feed-food chain

The feed-food chain is the relationship between what is fed to animals and what reaches humans who eat them — the recognition that animal feed is the first link in human food safety. Contaminants in feed become contaminants in meat, milk, and eggs: dioxins in feed fat, mycotoxins in grain, heavy metals in minerals, and veterinary drug residues all travel the chain into the human diet. The BSE crisis — cattle infected through contaminated meat-and-bone meal — made the principle unforgettable and reshaped feed law worldwide. Modern regulation therefore controls feed as strictly as food: approved ingredients, maximum residue limits, traceability from feed mill to farm. The feed-food chain is the food chain’s hidden half — the part consumers never see, where their food’s safety is decided before the animal is even slaughtered.