Kemin: Incident involving a tocopherol supplier

On 3 April, certified lab results at Kemin in Europe showed 40.035 ng/kg of dioxin in a single batch of Naturox IP Plus Dry, an antioxidant used in pet food. Kemin confirms that it has been in contact with all affected European customers to notify them that when the antioxidant is applied at recommended application rates, the amount of dioxin in finished pet food is 0.04 - 0.09 ng/kg -- well below the maximum allowable limit for dioxin in Europe. The European Union (EU) allowable limit for dioxin in finished pet food is 1.75 ng/kg. Although this tocopherol supplier is FAMI-QS certified and provided a certificate of analysis showing the material complied with EU requirements for undesirable substances, including dioxins, Kemin confirms that it takes full responsibility for all materials that enter its facilities. Applying the precautionary principle, Kemin is replacing any unused antioxidants containing tocopherols from this supplier, the company points out. Kemin states, that this is an isolated incident and quality and safety of its products continues to remain the company’s utmost priority. To support this effort, Kemin has invested in its own state-of-the-art analytical laboratory that performs additional testing to verify supplier certificates of analysis. According to itself, Kemin is one of the few companies that have the ability to complete its own dioxin testing. During the last year Kemin analyzed hundreds of individual samples of raw materials for dioxin as part of a statistically valid sampling method for raw materials. Despite the rigorous quality and safety system, Kemin is investigating one of its tocopherol suppliers.