Effect of Stock Foods Act on Poultry Producers

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 75, Issue 1, 15 July 1947, Page 81

Effect of Stock Foods Act on Poultry Producers

'T’HE Stock Foods Act, 1946, which places certain obligations •on ■*- sellers of stock foods, came into operation on June 1. As the Act is of importance to the poultry industry, the main provisions of it which affect poultry producers are outlined in this article by F. C. Bobby, Superintendent of Poultry Husbandry, Wellington, who deals with the responsibilities of buyer and seller and the part taken by the Department of Agriculture in the operation of the Act.

'T'HE Act offers protection to a poultry producer who in normal times can purchase any of the foods commonly used on a poultry farm by requiring that certain information be supplied to him regarding the food or foods purchased. From this information he can form an opinion of the food offered for sale, and judge its monetary value by comparison with the / nutritional and monetary values of . other foods. Previously a producer might be sold foods which were incorrectly named or labelled, or purchase a food such as a fish oil for its vitamin content, when, in fact, those vitamins were absent or in insufficient quantity to be of value. No check was made upon the quality of the foods sold, and little in the way of redress was possible. The buyer had to rely on the seller and this was not always satisfactory. -- When stock food is purchased the seller is now required to supply the following information on an invoice or a label (part may' .be on the . invoice and the remainder on the label): 1. The seller’s name and address; 2. The name of the food sold;, ? 3. The number of packages sold; . 4. The gross weight; 5. The name of each ingredient, if the food is a mixture; and 6. Certain particulars regarding the chemical composition, except , in the case of a grain or a mixture of grains. Moreover, if the food purchased contains more than one ingredient, . and can be said to have been manufactured, each package supplied must have marked on it, or on . a label attached to it, the name and address of the manufacturer. Thus, if A manufactures a poultry mash, and B sells it (after purchase from A) to a poultry producer, each bag will carry the name of A and also of B, but the latter’s name may be on an invoice only. ’. ; /’•.•. ... Items 1, 3, and 4 are straightforward, but the remaining items , require explanation.

Name of the Food , * The name of the • food will be straightforward in the vast majority of cases, but for meat meal the Act gives the producer additional protection. If the meat meal contains not less than - 60 per cent, of protein, it may be labelled meat meal, but if • it does not contain that percentage of protein, it must be labelled meat-and-bone. meal, thus preventing low-grade meals of this type being sold as meat meal. . A tolerance of error of 3 per cent, is allowed in meat meals; thus, if challenged, a vendor'selling a . meat meal which shows on analysis to have only 57 per cent, protein would have no case proved against him. ’ The Act further protects a poultry producer purchasing either pollard or bran by making it necessary for the manufacturer to . name the grain or seed from which the . pollard or bran is made, for example, wheaten pollard, oaten pollard, or linseed bran. No other, food ingredients may be added to a pure food . such . as. bran, pollard, or ground oats without . this fact ' being stated, because when another food or adulterant is added the food becomes a mixture, and each ingredient must be named.' . - . . Mixed Foods If stock foods are mixtures or contain more than one ingredient, the name of each ingredient must be stated. Many ; poultry producers desired that not only ‘ should this information be given, but also the percentage of. each ingredient... "The Act does not require the percentage to. .be given, mainly . because" ho . check could. be , made if .. doubt . was .cast upon”' the accuracy of information supplied by the manufacturer. No form of chemical analysis will directly - disclose whether. a mixture contains wheat, oats, barley, pollard, .bran, etc., quite apart from the percentage in which these are present. A close inspection, particularly ’ with a magnifying glass or microscope, .will reveal most of the ingredients in a mixture of meals, but not the percentage in which they are present. It . is' quite obvious, for example, that it would be impossible to separate pollard from, bran in a

mixture containing . these .two meals.. The poultry producer is now informed of the names of all ■ the . ingredients included and can . avoid in normal times mixtures with which he does not agree, or he can add a favoured ingredient which is not included in a bought mixture. \ < Chemical Composition „ The requirement that particulars of the chemical composition of a stock food be supplied to a buyer is perhaps the most important item. As the particulars of the chemical composition vary with the class of food bought, it is necessary , to deal. with each class separately. Grains No particulars regarding the chemical composition of grains will be supplied. The poultry producer can judge by sight the quality of any grain or the grains in a mixture. He knows by experience the relative feeding value of common grains such as wheat, oats, barley, and maize.. The Act does, however, define “cracked grains” such as cracked or kibbled maize. The pieces ' of ■ grain must not be able 'to pass through a metal sieve with round holes having a diameter of l/16in. This places a check on the inclusion of any appreciable quantity of unwanted dust, particularly in chick feeds. Brans , and Pollards / , The maximum percentage of fibre must be stated in brans and pollards. This is limited information, but the buyer may assess the value of wheaten bran or pollard by sight and touch: Obviously, poorer samples will contain comparatively ■ high percentages of fibre, and these will have to be shown. Thus, the lower the maximum percentage the higher is the quality of the food. ' 4 Meat Meal or Meat-and-bone Meal Only meals containing 60 per cent, of protein. (after allowing the 3 per cent, tolerance provided by the Act) may be labelled meat meal, and those of a lower protein content must in future carry the name of meat-and-bone meal. Manufacturers must also state: —» ; (i) The minimum percentage of protein in the meal. The buyer is thus advised of the minimum amount of the nutritional ingredient for which the meal is bought. This , should assist poultry producers where they wish, or are forced, to purchase the lowergrade meat-and-bone meals in which the protein content can be low for poultry feeding. (ii) The maximum percentage of fat. Poultry, do not require appreciable quantities of fats or oils, and, in fact, may easily suffer digestive troubles if these are present. Thus, meat meals or meat-and-bone meals should be low

' ' ■ A ■ . : ■. - in fat when required for poultry feeding. Poultry producers will according select wherever possible grades of these meals which state a low fat content. ' (iii) . The maximum percentage of ash. Meals containing .' appreciable quantities of bone will' show a heavy ash content, whereas high-grade meat meals will give a correspondingly low figure for. ash (or mineral) content Feeding Oils ' The Act gives, poultry producers necessary protection when buying feeding, oils, as ho one is able by observation to judge the vitamin content of a feeding oil, which is purchased for poultry feeding entirely for its quality - as a vitamin-rich food. The Act provides that the manufacturer of a feeding oil must state:— (i) The minimum number of international units of vitamin A in the oil. Poultry; producers should look for oils containing between 800 and 1000 units of vitamin A. Although not the most important vitamin for which oils are usually purchased for poultry feeding, vitamin A has a real value for poultry in assisting to build' up health and resistance to disease. A lack of vitamin A may even result in a nutritional disease known as nutritional roup. - ; (ii) The minimum number of “chick units” of vitamin D in the oil. Poultry producers are urged to note carefully that feeding oils suitable for poultry must Jbe marked , in “chick units.” Briefly, the reason for this is that certain forms of 'synthetic vitamin D are entirely satisfactory for feeding to animals, but are only partially satis-, factory when fed to birds. The distinction has therefore been made as an added protection to poultry ducers. Vitamin D is given to poultry, more particularly to young chicks, as a protection against the occurrence of rickets. It is most important that chicks should have this protection, and as these oils are comparatively expensive, it is /equally important that the amount of vitamin D present should be sufficient to give protection. Poultry producers are recommended to purchase oils which are stated to have a minimum of 100 . “chick units” of vitamin D. Fish Meal ' ' , , - Although fish meal is not yet in com./ mon use, the Act requires a manufacturer to state: — (i) Minimum percentage of protein. (ii) Maximum percentage of fat. The fat requirements of poultry have been dealt with in the section on meat meal. .. , • 1 ! (iii) Maximum percentage of common salt. This is an added protection because poultry have a limited toler-

ance in the consumption of common salt. > , , Poultry Mashes The Act requires the manufacturers of. mixtures of meals, normally referred to. as poultry mashes, to state the name of each ingredient included in any mixture. In addition, the follow-, ing particulars of the chemical composition are required:— 1 ' . (i) Minimum percentage of - total or crude protein. In bulletins , published by the Department of Agriculture or in books dealing with the theory of feeding and nutrition of poultry it is customary to refer to “digestible protein” or ,■ “digestible fat.” This means the quantity of any of these chemical constituents which are likely. to be digested or . made use of ,by poultry. These quantities have been calculated as the result of carefully-conducted nutritional experiment's. On the . other hand an analytical chemist when analysing a food ascertains the total protein, or crude protein as it is termed, present.' in that 1 food. There are therefore two sets of figures. available —those for . crude protein . and those for digestible protein. The Act refers to crude protein or crude fat for each class of food. Poultry producers will therefore find that an average poultry laying mash containing, say, 1 10 per cent, of meat meal (protein content 60 per cent.) will show a crude protein content of about 16 to 17 per cent., but this expressed in digestible protein' would be about 14 to 15 per cent. Producers should also note carefully that ; the Act requires the minimum percentage of crude protein in the mash to be stated, not the actual quantity present. ' Thus, a manufacturer may state “15 per cent, crude protein,”knowing that he is . endeavouring to 'maintain between 16 and 17 per cent., as in the case of an average sample of standard mash. (ii) Maximum crude fat. (iii) Maximum crude fibre. The percentages of crude fat and crude fibre should be as low as possible. It is probable that, in the present standard laying mashes these will be about 4 to 5 per cent, for fat and 6. to 7 per cent, for fibre. In normal times, when full use can be made of first-quality foods suitable to poultry, both these figures could be reduced. v (iv) Maximum percentage of common salt. The amount of salt shown for poultry mashes will be about 1 per cent., and should not exceed to 2 per cent, at any time. (v) The percentage of every added mineral if it is present in excess of 2 per cent. This gives poultry producers protection against the inclusion of amounts of minerals in excess of what is either necessary or desirable.

Operation of Act Regulations which are likely to be brought down to operate the Act are unlikely to be of direct interest to poultry producers, -as they will deal largely at this stage with the methods laid down for analysing samples taken and the precise . method by , which; samples shall be taken. Poultry producers will, however, be interested in how the Act is operated, and the procedure briefly is as follows: ' A buyer of a stock food may request an inspector (Inspector of Stock), ; in writing, to take., a sample of a food should the 'buyer consider that this food is materially at. variance with the particulars. given on the .. invoice . or label supplied. , A fee,. as yet to be ■fixed, will be payable before the inspector takes his sample;, and, in addition, the. latter must give the seller from whom the food' was purchased four , days’ notice, so that the firm involved may have a representative present, if desired, when the sample, is taken. The inspector must then satisfy himself that the food has been properly . stored and has, not been tampered with. This means that the sample will be taken from packages (sacks, bags, etc.) which have not been opened after ■ purchase. The sample is then, taken, and a proportion of it sent to an analyst, who sends his findings to the Department of Agriculture and a copy to. the buyer. If the analyst’s certificate shows that the sample. was not materially different from the details given on the invoice or label, the seller may claim reasonable expenses from the buyer,if he has travelled to the buyer’s farm to be present at the time of the sampling. However, if the sample proves to be materially different from the information stated on the invoice or label, the Act provides that action may be taken against the seller by the ' Department, and the purchaserwill also be in a position to take civil action against the seller. It is obvious that early action should be taken if a buyer intends to request a sample to be ■ taken. - It should be carefully noted that poultry producers cannot just send a sample of any food about which they may have a doubt to the De-; partment and expect the Department to take direct action. There ; is a definite and necessary procedure, although the Department can take steps to check from time, to time stock foods offered for sale, quite apart from any specific action which may, be taken by a producer. — ' ' POULTRY FEEDING Containing valuable information for all interested,in egg production, Bulletin' 198, “The Theory and Practice of Poultry Feeding,” is available at 6d. a copy (post free) from any office of the Department of Agriculture.