PhD in Veterinary Sciences for Animal Health and Food Safety

Contacts

Supervisor

Claudio Forte

Curriculum vitae

Curriculum Vitae

Phd thesis

Commercially processed former foodstuffs in poultry diet: a multidisciplinary approach

Scientific background/state of the art

As poultry diets are generally grain-based, the competition for resources between feed and food is of growing concern [1]. Ongoing research strives to identity sustainable alternatives to corn and soybean meal to replace their use in monogastric animal feed [2]. In 2022, the European Commission endorsed the use of former foodstuffs in livestock feed, defining them in the catalogue of feed materials [3] as: “foodstuffs, other than catering reflux, which were manufactured for human consumption in full compliance with the EU food law, but which are no longer intended for human consumption for practical or logistical reasons or due to problems of manufacturing or packaging defects or other defects and which do not present any health risks when used as feed.” Europe processes approximately 5 million tons of former foodstuffs annually [4]. These materials, which are legally distinct from food waste, offer a potential means to reduce the consumption of natural resources, such as water, reducing the carbon footprint and land usage of feed production [5].

In the last decade, former foodstuffs have been referred to in the literature as ‘ex food [6],’ ‘food leftovers [7],’ ‘former food products [8],’ ‘bakery by-products [9],’ and ‘bakery meal [10]’. With advancements in industrial processes, these former foodstuffs emerged as commercially processed former foodstuffs (cFF). They are composed of a mixture of different raw materials obtained from intermediate, unfinished, and incorrect products, primarily from the bakery, confectionary and food industries. These materials undergo unpacking, mixing, grinding, and drying to become feed ingredients as a commercialised product and available on the market under Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1104 [3]. These cFF have a high energy content due to the presence of sugar, starch, oil, and fat [8,11,12]. The inclusion of cFF into animal feeds has proven to reduce food waste accumulation and dependency on traded feed [5,13]. Despite the commercial availability of cFF and its recent standardization within the European legal framework, a substantial knowledge gap persists in the literature concerning its inclusion in poultry nutrition. 

 

Specific aims of the project and methods

The main aim of the study is to evaluate the inclusion of commercial processed former foodstuffs (cFF) in broiler diets and its overall impact on the production chain, including the attitudes and perspectives of professionals toward their use.

Specific Objectives:

1. Assess the impact of different dietary inclusion levels of cFF as a substitute for corn, soybean meal, and soybean oil on growth performance, apparent total tract digestibility, hematobiochemical profiles, and liver gene expression related to lipid metabolism.
2. Evaluate the effects of cFF inclusion on gut histomorphology, gut microbiota composition, and caecal volatile fatty acid (VFA) and ammonia concentrations.
3. Investigate the influence of cFF substitution on slaughter performance, physicochemical qualities, and sensory attributes of broiler chicken meat.
4. Examine microbiological hygiene indicators, spoilage bacteria, and physicochemical parameters (pH, water activity, total volatile basic nitrogen, and instrumental colorimetric evaluation) during refrigerated storage.

 

Materials and methods

Bird management and experimental diets: This experiment was conducted at the poultry facility of the University of Turin (North-West Italy). The experimental protocol was approved by the Bioethical Committee of the Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Italy (protocol no. 245, 01/01/2022). A total of 200 one-day-old male Ross-308 broiler chicks were used in the 33-d experimental period. Chicks were individually weighed and divided into four dietary groups based on their initial body weight (BW; 38.0 ± 0.11 g, on average), each group comprised five pens of ten chicks per pen. Four experimental diets were formulated for the two distinct feeding phases: starter (from d 1 to d 12) and grower (from d 12 to d 33).  The control group received corn, soybean meal and soybean oil based standard commercial feed (cFF0). The other three experimental diets incorporated the cFF ingredient, substituting corn, soybean meal and soybean oil at the following percentages w/w: 6.25% (cFF6.25), 12.5% (cFF12.5), and 25% (cFF25). 

Data and sample collection: At the beginning of the experiment, birds were individually labelled with a wing mark. The experimental period lasted 33 d, during which bird health status and mortality were monitored daily. The BW (g) of each bird was recorded upon its arrival and at the end of each feeding phase (1, 12, and 33 d of age, respectively). Feed intake (g) per replicate was recorded at the end of each feeding phase. The average daily gain (ADG, g/d), average daily feed intake (ADFI, g/d) and the gain to feed ratio (G:F, g/g) were calculated on the replicate basis for each feeding phase and for the whole experimental period (d 1–12, d 12–33, and d 1–33, respectively). On d 33, birds were slaughtered for subsequent post-mortem analyses. The indigestible marker titanium dioxide (TiO2) (5 g/kg) was added to the feed during the formulation of the experimental diets to evaluate the apprent total tract digestibility (ATTD). Hematobiochemical profiles, liver gene abundance, histomorphology, caecal microbiota and caecal volatile fatty acids and ammonia analyses were perfomed. Slaughter performance, carcass traits, meat quality and physicochemical properties of meat, microbiological status of meat, and meat sensory-panel test were evaluated. Breast fillets were analysed at 24h post-mortem (T1) and after 3 (T2), 5 (T3), 7 (T4), and 9 (T5) days of refrigerated storage (4±1°C) to evaluate water activity, pH, colour, microbilogical status and shelflife of the meat. 

 

Results and Discussion

The growth performance data showed no differences in body weight or average daily gain among groups, although the average daily feed intake decreased during the grower period (12-33d) and over entire experimental period (1-33d) in a linear manner as the cFF inclusion level rose (P = 0.026), positively affecting the gain to feed ratio (P = 0.002). The ATTD of dry matter of the cFF-fed groups were greater with respect to control group and increased throughout the experimental period, whereas the ATTD of ether extract linearly decreased with increasing levels of cFF-fed groups compared with control group and throughout the experimental period (P < 0.05). Additionally, a linear increase in the heterophil to lymphocyte ratio, serum cholesterol, triglycerides and alanine-aminotransferase were observed with increasing dietary levels of cFF (P < 0.05); however, no differences were observed in lipoprotein lipase or sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor gene abundance. Further, No differences in gut histomorphometry and histology of liver, spleen and bursa of Fabricius across the dietary groups. In the gut microbiota, alpha diversity indices, such as observed features and Shannon entropy, showed no variation among dietary groups. However, at the genus level, Faecalibacterium abundance increased (P < 0.05) in the cFF25 treatment compared to the control group (cFF0). Additionally, there were no differences in volatile fatty acids concentrations between the diets. A linear decrease in ammonia concentration (P < 0.05) was observed as cFF rates increased in the diet, from cFF0 to cFF25.

Carcass traits were similar across groups, except for a decrease in gizzard yield in cFF25 group (P=0.008). Shear force, cooking loss, and drip loss were unaffected by the diet. Meat pH decreased linearly in both breast and thigh muscles, and the thigh muscle yellowness index increased (P<0.05). Breast crude protein decreased, while thigh crude protein and breast ether extract increased as the cFF inclusion level rose (P<0.05). The fatty acid (FA) content of breast and thigh meat showed a linear increase in monounsaturated FA, with thigh meat also exhibiting a linear increase in saturated FA (SFA). Conversely, polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) and the PUFA to SFA ratio decreased with increasing cFF levels (P<0.05). Lipid oxidation levels remained unchanged across groups. Sensory analysis revealed no differences in overall acceptability or liking among groups, although two sensory attributes (sour and hard) resulted as discriminating factors (P<0.05). Additionally, results of meat microbiology showed that, from T3 to T5, differences in total viable and B. thermosphacta counts were observed among groups, with the cFF12.5 and cFF25 groups having significantly lower (P<0.05) counts compared to cFF0. For Enterobacteriaceae, differences (P<0.05) were found only at T5, where the cFF12.5 group exhibited a lower count than the cFF0 group. No differences were found for Pseudomonas spp. For total volatile basic nitrogen, cFF25 had a lower value compared to all other groups at T3, and only with cFF0 at T5.

 

Conclusion

This experiment demonstrates that up to 25% cFF can be incorporated into nutritionally balanced diets for broiler chickens over 33-days without negatively affecting growth performance, gut health, or microbiota diversity under commercial conditions. Additionally, meat quality, oxidative stability, and consumer perception remained unchanged, while microbiological quality improved and FA composition was altered. These findings highlight the need for further research into the potential human health implications, hematological traits, fermentation products, and the complete gut microbiome.

 

References

1. Breewood H, Garnett T. What is feed-food competition?|FCRN. 2020. https://www.tabledebates.org/building-blocks/what-feed-food-competition. Accessed 2022 Mar 10.
2. Alshelmani MI, Abdalla EA, Kaka U, Basit MA. Nontraditional feedstuffs as an alternative in poultry feed. In Pastra AK, editor. Advances in Poultry Nutrition Research. IntechOpen; 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95946.
3. European commission. Commission regulation (EU) 2022/1104 of 1 July 2022 amending regulation (EU) No 68/2013 on the catalogue of... - strada lex Europe. Official Journal of the European Union. 2022. https://www.stradalex.eu/en/se_src_publ_leg_eur_jo/toc/leg_eur_jo_3_20220704_177/doc/ojeu_2022.177.01.0004.01. Accessed 2023 May 15.
4. EFFPA [European Former Foodstuff Processor's Association]. Animal husbandry and circular economy: the importance of Former foodstuff | EFFPA. 2022. https://www.effpa.eu/european-livestock-voice-animal-husbandry-and-circular-economy-the-importance-of-former-foodstuff/. Accessed 2023 May 15.
5. Pinotti L, Mazzoleni S, Moradei A, Lin P, Luciano A. Effects of alternative feed ingredients on red meat quality: a review of algae, insects, agro-industrial by-products and former food products. Ital J Anim Sci. 2023;22:695–710. https://doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2023.2238784.
6. Ottoboni M, Tretola M, Luciano A, Giuberti G, Gallo A, Pinotti L. Carbohydrate digestion and predicted glycemic index of bakery/confectionary ex-food intended for pig nutrition. Ital J Anim Sci. 2019;18:838–49. https://doi.org./10.1080/1828051X.2019.1596758.
7. Tretola M, Ferrari L, Luciano A, Mazzoleni S, Rovere N, Fumagalli F, et al. Sugary vs salty food industry leftovers in postweaning piglets: effects on gut microbiota and intestinal volatile fatty acid production. animal. 2022;16:100584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2022.100584.
8. Luciano A, Tretola M, Ottoboni M, Baldi A, Cattaneo D, Pinotti L. Potentials and challenges of former food products (food leftover) as alternative feed ingredients. Animals. 2020;10. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10010125.
9. Kaltenegger A, Humer E, Stauder A, Zebeli Q. Feeding of bakery by-products in the replacement of grains enhanced milk performance, modulated blood metabolic profile, and lowered the risk of rumen acidosis in dairy cows. J Dairy Sci. 2020;103:10122–35. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2020-18425.
10. Stein HH, Adeola O, Baidoo SK, Lindemann MD. Standardized ileal digestibility of amino acids differs among sources of bakery meal when fed to growing pigs Sunday A. Adedokun, $ and North Central Coordinating Committee on Swine Nutrition (NCCC-42). J Anim Sci. 2023;101:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skad208.
11. Luciano A, Tretola M, Mazzoleni S, Rovere N, Fumagalli F, Ferrari L, et al. Sweet vs. salty former food products in post‐weaning piglets: effects on growth, apparent total tract digestibility and blood metabolites. Animals. 2021;11:3315. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113315.
12. Pinotti L, Luciano A, Ottoboni M, Manoni M, Ferrari L, Marchis D, et al. Recycling food leftovers in feed as opportunity to increase the sustainability of livestock production. J Clean Prod. Elsevier Ltd.2021;294:126290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126290.
13. EFFPA [European Former Foodstuff Processor's Association]. What are former foodstuffs? | EFFPA. 2019. https://www.effpa.eu/what-are-former-foodstuffs/. Accessed 2022 Mar 10.

 

 

 

Research activities

 

Academic role

Mentored a Resident at the European College of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition (ECVCN) Residency class 2022-2024 (research project).

Period Abroad & Internship

• Curricular Internship (6 months) at Feed from food srl., Milan- Food inspection and safety laboratory in Italy.
• Curricular Internship (4 months) at Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University in Belgium, Meat science and animal science laboratory (LANUPRO, Ghent).

 

Full articles in ISI journals

1. Karthika Srikanthithasan, Andrea Giorgino, Edoardo Fiorilla, Laura Ozella, Marta Gariglio, Achille Schiavone, Andrés Luis Martínez Marín, Elena Diaz Vicuna, Claudio Forte. Former foodstuffs in feed: a minireview of recent findings. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 2024;31(16): 23322–23333. doi: 10.1007/s11356-024-32695-2.
2. Diaz Vicuna E, Srikanthithasan K, Odore R, Massaglia S, Merlino VM, Giorgino A, Ozella L, Schiavone A, Massacci FR, Mota-Gutierrez J, Forte C. Influence of age, gender, and willingness to adopt former foodstuffs on the perception of Italian farm animal veterinarians. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 2024 Jun 6; 11:1396807. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1396807.
3. Karthika Srikanthithasan, Marta Gariglio, Elena Diaz Vicuna, Edoardo Fiorilla, Barbara Miniscalco, Valeria Zambotto, Eleonora Erika Cappone, Nadia Stoppani, Dominga Soglia, Federica Raspa, Joana Nery, Andrea Giorgino, Roser Sala, Andrés Luis Martínez Marínz, Josefa Madrid Sanchez, Achille Schiavone, Claudio Forte. Dietary processed former foodstuffs for broilers: impacts on growth performance, digestibility, hematobiochemical profiles and liver gene abundance. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, 15(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/S40104-024-01081-W/FIGURES/2.
4. Karthika Srikanthithasan, Marta Gariglio, Elena Diaz Vicuna, Margherita Profiti, Andrea Giorgino, Edoardo Fiorilla, Marta Castrica, Dino Miraglia, Sihem Dabbou, Flavia Gasperi, Ana Cristina Barroeta Lajusticia, Iolanda Altomonte, Rosalba Roccatello, Achille Schiavone, Claudio Forte. Effects of dietary processed former foodstuffs on slaughter performance and meat quality in broilers. Italian Journal of Animal Science. 2024. (under the 3^rd revision).
5. Karthika Srikanthithasan, Laura Menchetti, Marta Castrica, Dino Miraglia, Chiara Bianchi, Andrea Giorgino, Elena Diaz Vicuna, Edoardo Fiorilla, Marta Gariglio, Achille Schiavone, Claudio Forte.  Effect of dietary commercially processed former foodstuffs on broiler meat microbiological quality, physico-chemical traits and shelf-life extension. Applied Food Research. 2024. (submitted & under revision).
6. Karthika Srikanthithasan, Ilario Ferrocino, Federica Raspa, Joana Nery, Elena Colombino, Ippolito Dorotea, Marta Gariglio, Elena Diaz Vicuna, Edoardo Fiorilla, Jatziri Mota Gutierrez, Andrea Giorgino, Maria Teresa Capucchio, Achille Schiavone, and Claudio Forte. Influence of commercially processed former foodstuffs on broiler gut health. Animal. 2024. (submitted & under revision).
7. Edoardo Fiorilla, Ilario Ferrocino, Marta Gariglio, Francesco Gai, Valeria Zambotto, Laura Ozella, Irene Franciosa, Marzia Giribaldi, Sara Antoniazzi, Federica Raspa, Eleonora Erika Cappone, Dmitri Fabrikov, Valentina Bongiorno, Alice Calissano, Dorotea Ippolito, Karthika Srikanthithasan, Claudio Forte, Maria Teresa Capucchio, Achille Schiavone. Black soldier fly larvae: a one health approach to investigate gut, and organ health and meat quality response in slow-growing chickens. BMC Veterinary Research. 2024. (submitted & under revision).

Abstracts of international congress

1. Karthika Srikanthithasan*, Marta Castrica, Marta Gariglio, Elena Diaz Vicuna, Edoardo Fiorilla, Andrea Giorgino, Rosalba Roccatello, Sihem Dabbou, Flavia Gasperi, Achille Schiavone and Claudio Forte. Commercially processed bakery by-products in broiler diets: impact on performance and meat sensory attributes. RETASTE: 4^th International Conference, Heraklion, Greece (Oral presentation*, September 25-27, 2024).
2. Elena Diaz Vicuna, Edoardo Fiorilla, Karthika Srikanthithasan, Valeria Zambotto, Silvia Tabasso, Manuela Renna, Lara Rastello, Andrea Giorgino, Laura Ozella, Valentina Arneodo, Andrea Cravero, Claudio Forte. Hazelnut skin as sustainable feed ingredient in livestock diets: preliminary results. RETASTE: 4^th International Conference, Heraklion, Greece (Oral presentation, September 25-27, 2024).
3. Karthika Srikanthithasan*, Andrea Giorgino, Marta Gariglio, Elena Diaz, Achille Schiavone, Edoardo Fiorilla, Stefania Bergagna, Ana Cristina Barroeta, Margherita Profiti, Claudio Forte. Bakery by-products in poultry diet: effects on performance, blood parameters and fatty acid profile of meat. 23rd European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition, Rimini, Italy. (Poster Presentation* on 21-24 June 2023).
4. Karthika Srikanthithasan*, Elena Diaz Vicuna, Marta Castrica, Dino Miraglia, Edoardo Fiorilla1, Marta Gariglio, Sihem Dabbou, Andrea Giorgino, Ana C.B Lajusticia, Roser S. Pallarés, Achille Schiavone, Claudio Forte. Effects of the inclusion of bakery by- products in broiler diet on fatty acid profile and chemical properties of meat. ICOMST, Padova Italy. (Poster Presentation* on 20-25 August 2023).
5. Karthika Srikanthithasan*, Sihem Dabbou, Rosalba Roccatello, Flavia Gasperi, Marta Gariglio, Edoardo Fiorilla, Elena Diaz Vicuna, Andrea Giorgino, Marta Castrica, Dino Miraglia, Achille Schiavone, Claudio Forte. Meat quality and sensory attributes of meat produced from broilers fed different percentages of bakery by-products inclusions. ICOMST, Padova Italy. (Poster Presentation* on 20-25 August 2023). 
6. Srikanthithasan, G. Andrea, G. Marta, E. Diaz Vicuna, E. Fiorilla, R. Rosalba, F. Gasperi, A. Schiavone, V. Massa, C. Forte. Processed former foodstuff based on bakery by-product included in compound feed diet destined to poultry can enhance broiler performance without impairing meat sensorial properties. 8th International Feed conference, Milan (Poster presentation, 9-10 October 2023).

Abstracts of national congresses

1. Karthika Srikanthithasan*, Marta Gariglio, Edoardo Fiorilla, Andrea Giorgino, Lucrezia Dellepiane, Elena Diaz Vicuna, Dario Sola, Valentina Bongiorno, Stefania Bergagna, Achille Schiavone, Dominga Soglia, Federica Raspa, Claudio Forte. Dietary bakery by products can increase performance and sustainability in poultry farming. 25th congress ASPA 2023, Monopoli, Bari, Italy. (Oral Presentation* on 13-16 June 2023).
2. Karthika Srikanthithasan*, Ilario Ferrocino, Federica Raspa, Joana Nery, Elena Colombino, Ippolito Dorotea, Marta Gariglio, Elena Diaz Vicuna, Edoardo Fiorilla, Jatziri Mota Gutierrez, Andrea Giorgino, Maria Teresa Capucchio, Achille Schiavone, and Claudio Forte. Effects of dietary commercially processed former foodstuffs on the gut ecosystem in broilers. 26th congress ASPA 2023, Turin, Italy. (Oral Presentation* on 17-20 June 2025).
3. Karthika Srikanthithasan, Marta Castrica, Claudia M. Balzaretti, Marta Gariglio, Edoardo Fiorilla, Valentina Bongiorno, Achille Schiavone, Claudio Forte, Dino Miraglia. Bakery by-products in poultry diet: effects on performance, blood parameters and fatty acid profile of meat. 76^th Convegno SISVET, Bari, Italy. (Oral Presentation on 21-23 June 2023). 
4. Ippolito Dorotea, Srikanthithasan Karthika, Colombino Elena, Diaz Vicuna Elena, Miniscalco Barbara, Bergagna Stefania, Gariglio Marta, Fiorilla Edoardo, Schiavone Achille, Forte Claudio, Capucchio Maria Teresa. Replacing soy and corn with bakery-by-product is former foodstuffs recycling sustainable for poultry health and production. 76^th Convegno SISVET, Bari, Italy. (Oral Presentation on 21-23 June 2023). 

Third mission: Game of Research abstracts

1. Karthika Srikanthithasan*, Andrea Giorgino, Marta Gariglio, Elena Diaz, Achille Schiavone, Edoardo Fiorilla, Margherita Profiti, Claudio Forte (2022). Determination of growth performance and carcass yield of broilers fed different levels of bakery by-products. Game of Research, Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Italy. (Oral Presentation* on 15th December 2022).
2. Karthika Srikanthithasan*, Ilario Ferrocino, Elena Colombino, Ippolito Dorotea, Marta Gariglio, Elena Diaz Vicuna, Edoardo Fiorilla, Jatziri Mota Gutierrez, Andrea Giorgino, Maria Teresa Capucchio, Achille Schiavone, and Claudio Forte. Influence of commercially processed former foodstuffs on broiler performance, gut histology, and caecal microbiota. Game of Research, Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Italy. (Oral Presentation* on 12th December 2024).

Publications

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