FOOD AND HEALTH ESSENTIALS

FDA to permit formic acid in animal food additives

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revised its regulations to permit the use of certain formic acids in animal food additives.

Published in early November in the Federal Register, the final rule affirms the safety of feed-grade formic acid and ammonium formate as a feed acidifying agent in complete animal feeds. As a result, formic acid and formate salts from all added sources up to the equivalent of 1.2 percent of complete feed is now permitted.

In addition, because the FDA has determined that the addition of formic acid does not have a significant effect on the human environment, the use of formic acid will no longer required the preparation and submission of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement as part of the approval process. 

The terms of the FDA’s final rule on the use of formic acids in animal food additives took effect on November 13, 2017. The complete text of the final rule as published in the Federal Register is available here.