Safety and efficacy of TYFER™ (ferric tyrosine chelate) as a zootechnical feed additive for chickens, turkeys and minor poultry species for fattening or reared for laying/breeding

Following a request from the European Commission, EFSA was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and efficacy of the product TYFERTM (ferric tyrosine chelate) as zootechnical feed additive for chickens, turkeys and minor poultry species for fattening or reared for laying/breeding. The additive is safe for chickens for fattening at the maximum expected level of 200 mg TYFERTM/kg complete feed; this conclusion can be extended to chickens reared for laying/breeding and extrapolated to turkeys and all minor poultry species for fattening or reared for laying/breeding. No concerns for consumer safety are expected from the use of the additive in poultry nutrition. The EFSA Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) considers that the additive poses a risk to users by inhalation, and should also be considered as an irritant to skin, eyes and mucous membranes. Due to the presence of nickel, ferric tyrosine chelate should also be considered as a dermal and respiratory sensitiser. The supplementation of feed with the additive is not expected to pose an environmental risk. TYFERTM used at the minimum recommended level (20 mg/kg feed) in chickens diets has the potential to improve zootechnical parameters of birds. The additive at 20 mg/kg feed has the potential to reduce the caecal load Campylobacter spp. by at least 1 log10-units in chickens for fattening, thus with a potential impact to reduce the risk of human campylobacteriosis; however, the Panel notes that the load of Campylobacter in the chickens caecum is one of the multiple factors that contribute to Campylobacter load in carcases-meat. The conclusions on the efficacy of the additive can be extended to chickens reared for laying/breeding and extrapolated to turkeys and all minor poultry species for fattening or reared for laying/breeding. The Panel recommends including a specification for maximum lithium content in a potential authorisation of the additive.