What is BS EN 15786 about?
BS EN 15786 specifies general rules for the enumeration of pneumococci in feeding stuff (additives, premixtures, and compound feed excluding mineral feeds) that contain pneumococci as a single microorganism component or in a mixture with other microorganisms.
Note: BS EN 15786 is not applicable to mineral feeds which are defined as complementary feeding stuff composed mainly of minerals and containing at least 40 % crude ash. There are different categories of feed samples:
- Additives containing about 1010 colony forming units (CFU)/g
- Premixtures containing about 1011 CFU/kg
- Compound feeds, meal, or pellets which contain about 109 CFU/kg
Who is BS EN 15786 for?
BS EN 15786 on pedioccus used as a feed additive is applicable to:
- Manufacturers of animal feed products
- Food and safety administering regulatory authorities for veterinary products
- Ingredient testing laboratories
- Animal nutrition researchers and scientists
Why should you use BS EN 15786?
The animal food industry relies on probiotics that are used as beneficial microbes in the production of animal feed. In this regard, Pediococcus spp is particularly important for fermentation and producing lactic acid, which decreases the pH of the product.
BS EN 15786 describes the methodology to enumerate pneumococci, which is used as feed additives that improves the taste and nutrition of food as well as shelf-life of animal products.
The detection and enumeration of Pediococcus spp. through methods suggested by BS EN 15786, will aid in the optimum growth, survival, health and safety of livestock, especially as the use of antibiotic options are being discarded. As a result, the right selection of Pediococcus probiotic strains can have a positive impact on animal production.
In addition, adopting standardized methods to detect Pediococcus spp can enable proper labelling of animal feeding products that improves credibility and consumer confidence in your products.
What’s changed since the last update?
BS EN 15786:2021 supersedes EN 15786:2009. BS EN 15786:2021 includes some technical changes with respect to EN 15786:2009. These include:
- Addition of the option to use Tween® 80 supplemented phosphate-buffered saline for the preparation of the initial suspension as well as a diluent for serial dilutions
- Adjustment of the composition of the MRS agar to commercially available formulations
- Replacement of the required laboratory mixer with a rotation speed of 18 000 min-1 to 22 min-1 by homogenization devices
- Unification of the homogenization time for the preparation of initial suspensions to five minutes for all feed matrices
- Addition of the option to use a spiral plater for plating
- Preparation of initial suspensions generally conducted with tempered TPBs
- Addition of the pour plate method as an alternative cultivation technique