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Reprint Courtesy
of... |
Benefits of Roasted
Oats in Horse Feed
October 2008
By Eleanor
Kellon, VMD
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We're all familiar with roasted coffee beans, peanuts and
sunflower seeds, and we all know that roasting greatly increases
the flavor of these foods. If you pay attention to ingredients
lists on your horse’s feed bag, you probably notice roasted
soybeans as well. Roasting or toasting is done for a variety of
reasons beyond its flavor-enhancing effect, however, and all
grains can be roasted. One of the reasons interest in roasted
grains for horses is on the rise at the moment is its ability to
greatly reduce mold and mycotoxin contamination of grains.
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Oats are roasted in the
manufacturing plant.
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What Roasting Can Do
Roasting, like other processing forms that use heat, has its
pros and cons (see chart). The improved starch digestibility of
grains like corn, milo and sorghum means you can feed less for
same numbe of calories. Basically, you're getting more nutrients
per pound, of the ones that survive the processing. This is
clearly a good thing. However, one study showed higher glucose
and insulin responses in horses fed roasted grains vs. untreated
grains, and that is not a good thing, especially in horses that
may be on the verge of becoming insulin-resistant. The heat
process may also destroy some of the nutrients (see chart), but
this can easily be counteracted by careful supplementation of
the grain, such as extra thiamine and essential amino acid
supplementation.
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Roasted grains are a bit
thinner and more dehydrated than whole grains, as you
can see in the oats.
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If you check any website that sells roasted grains for horses,
you'll see that they are said to lessen the chance of ulcer
formation, improve soundness, fertility, improved flavor, less
acidosis (associated with laminitis) and more. Clearly, though,
the greatest appeal in light of the recent aflatoxin
contaminated grain fiasco is in mold and mycotoxin control.
However, while roasting will kill molds and harmful bacteria, it
is not 100% successful in eliminating mycotoxins (see sidebar
from FDA on acceptable levels of contaminants).
Mycotoxins
In
one sense, mycotoxins are a fact of life. The fungi that produce
them live in the soil and are ready and waiting to take
advantage of grain conditions that allow them to take hold.
Drought stresses grains and causes cracks where fungi can
proliferate on the rich nutrients inside the grain. Some molds
flourish more superficially on the grains and do best under high
humidity conditions. Worst of all is a midsummer drought
followed by high heat and humidity.
Roasting isn’t the only way to reduce mycotoxins
in feeds. An article in the February 2005 Food Additives and
Contaminants found "extrusion cooking generally decreases
the mycotoxins levels at rates depending on different factors
such as the type of extruder, the type of screw, the die
configuration, the initial mycotoxin concentration, the barrel
temperature, the screw speed, the moisture content of the raw
material and the use of additives. Reductions of 100, 95 and 83%
for fumonisins, aflatoxins and zearalenone, respectively, have
been reported during extrusion cooking of cereals, while lower
reductions were observed for deoxynivalenol, ochratodxin A and
moniliformin, where maximum reductions did not exceed 55, 40 and
30%, respectively.
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Roasted oats with corn and
barley.
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The
FAO is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations. It is similar to a combination between our USDA and the
foods division of the FDA.
In
their most recent publication on mycotoxins, written by two
researchers from the Toxicology and Mycotoxin Research Unit of
the USDA, they talk about screening grains, seeds and nuts, how
to minimize growth during storage and took a look at
decontamination methods. The bottom line was that thermal
treatment of infested grains isn’t 100% effective and avoidance
of mycotoxin problems still has to rely heavily on diverting
those grains out of the food supply for people and highly
susceptible animals like the horse.
Bottom Line
The
interest in feeding roasted grain is an understandable way to go
in horse feeding, as it does reduce the risk of feeding
contaminated grain. However, it’s not the same as feeding a
traditional, untreated grain.
It’s
also likely to be more expensive, because you’re paying for an
additional manufacturing process. In addition, there’s currently
a limited geographic distribution area, which is a downside to
anyone not living within a reasonable distance from a
distributor. You may also have to pay for added vitamins that
you didn’t need to buy previously.
Finally, with a rapidly growing increase in the number of
diagnosed cases of insulin-resistant horses, we worry about the
study showing a rapid, higher glucose and insulin response when
comparing horses fed roasted grains vs. those fed untreated
grains.
We
consider roasted feeds a growing sector of the industry to
watch. It’s heading in the right direction, but we’re not ready
to make a total switch. Clearly, more study is needed.
For
more information on the feed recall, see our July 2008 issue,
which is available at www.horse-journal.com or by calling
800-424-7887. Other related articles include: "Legal, But
Deceptive Feed Labels" (April 2006), "Safety In Equine Feeds"
(July 2007), "If He Won’t Eat It, Check Feed Quality" (February
2007), "Hays And Molds" (July 2007).
We
have an article in the works on the best horse feeds in North
American, and we would appreciate your input. Send a list of
your current feed manufacturers to us at the editorial office
(page 2) or via email to hjeditor@twcny.rr.com.
Article
by Horse Journal Veterinary Editor Eleanor Kellon, VMD. |
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