Animals > Livestock Feeds > Trade Memoranda  

1T-3-153 - YEAST PRODUCTS AS A SOURCE OF VIABLE ORGANISMS

December 1, 1996

Yeast cultures have been approved for use in livestock feeds for a number of years.  Though some of these products were viable, they were never recognized as such rather they were marketed as sources of B vitamin-complexes and unidentified growth factors. 

Times have changed.  Some yeast products are now being marketed for their viable properties and are represented as having similar benefits to those of viable microbial products.  These products are recognized in the United States as probiotics or sources of viable microorganisms.  The claims made are generally comparable to those made for other viable products. 

At the same time, some companies do not wish to promote yeast culture as a source of viable yeast cells.  Accordingly, our present "yeast culture dehydrated" description will be modified to reflect its non viable status and a new category will be created for viable yeast products. 

The modified description of "yeast culture dehydrated" is as follows: 

Yeast Culture Dehydrated is the dried product composed of yeast of the botanical classification Saccharomyces and the medium in which it is grown.  It shall be labelled with one or both of the following statements:  "This product is not a source of viable Saccharomyces cells" or "Ce produit n'est pas une source de cellules de saccharomyces vivantes".  It shall also be labelled with guarantees for minimum crude protein, maximum crude fibre and maximum moisture.  The medium shall be stated on the label. 

A new description for yeast active dehydrated will be added in Part II of Schedule IV of the Feeds Regulations.  This means that all sources of "viable yeast" will have to registered prior to marketing.  The definition will be as follows: 

Yeast active dehydrated is the dried product composed of yeast of the botanical classification Saccharomyces with or without the medium in which it is grown, and dried in such a manner as to preserve the viability of the Saccharomyces.  The culture shall not be affected with any communicable disease, which would render it unsuitable for importation into Canada pursuant to the Health of Animals Regulations.  It shall be labelled with a guarantee for the minimum number of Saccharomyces cells per unit of weight. 

The description for "yeast extract dehydrated", which defines a viable yeast culture from which the medium has been removed will be removed from Part 7 of Schedule IV.   With the new description, the guarantees should permit differentiation between the more or less concentrated products, and alleviate the need for different descriptions. 

Descriptions for ingredients such as Yeast irradiated dehydrated, Yeast brewers dehydrated, Yeast primary dehydrated, Yeast autolysate dehydrated and Yeast torula dehydrated will remain since they describe specific non-fermentative and nonactive ingredients.  The descriptions will be modified to include the requirement for the labelling statement:  "This product is not a source of viable yeast cells". 

The types of claims made for viable yeasts justify obtaining efficacy data.  These products will be treated in the same manner as forage additives and viable microbial products, with some modifications to reflect their specific intent.  This means: 

•  Requesting the same type of claim (i.e. maintain animal performance) as described in the Trade Memorandum T-3-143 for viable products. 
•  Requesting a guarantee for viability i.e. number of yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) per gram of product. 
•  Requesting the same type of descriptive/safety information as for other viable products (i.e., forage additives and viable microbial products).  This includes:  yeast description, manufacturing process, certificates of analysis for viability (on 3 different batches) along with a description of the analytical methodology, a description of any genetic manipulation or selection used for the specific strain, etc. 
•  Minimum of two (2) efficacy studies using the specific yeast strain in the formulation at different levels of use (min-max) (or at least one study per species) substantiating the efficacy claim that will be listed on the label.  The studies must be such that an efficacy range can be evaluated for each type of mixed feed and for each species for which the product is intended. 
• Requesting the inclusion of an expiry date on the label of viable yeast products which has been supported by product stability data. 

Companies that have mixed feeds containing yeast active dehydrated and wishing to make claims for these products, will have to register their products and modify their label in order to list the particular yeast product used, its registration number,  the guarantees, the claim(s) and the expiry date.  The claim(s) used will be the one(s) approved for the original yeast product as long as the number of yeast cells is within the efficacy range substantiated. 

For additional information please contact the:

Feed Section 
Animal Health and Production Division
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
59 Camelot Drive 
Ottawa, Ontario 
K1A 0Y9

Telephone : 613-225-2342
Fax : 613-228-6614