Category 3 Animal By-Products: Implications for Food and Feed Safety and Quality Aspects in Their Reuse for Feed Production

Dear Colleagues, 

The sustainable management and valorization of animal by-products (ABPs) represent a crucial challenge for the modern food chain. Beyond their traditional perception, Category 3 ABPs can serve as valuable resources for feed production, contributing to circular economy principles and reducing environmental impact. However, their reuse raises significant concerns regarding food and feed safety, traceability, and quality assurance.

This Special Issue aims to collect innovative research, reviews, and case studies addressing the microbiological, chemical-toxicological, and nutritional quality characterization of Category 3 ABPs, as well as technological solutions ensuring their safe use and reintroduction into the feed chain. The reuse of such a matrix, while promoting circularity and sustainability, may also pose potential risks to animal, human, and environmental health. On the one hand, potential microbiological, chemical, and toxicological concerns for both humans and animals may occur when animal by-products and products for human consumption originate from the same animals, as contamination in one can reflect that of the other.

On the other hand, the microbiological risks associated with raw meat-based diets (RMBDs) for dogs and cats deserve special attention, as these products can act as potential vehicles for the environmental spread and spillover of zoonotic pathogens, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and parasites to livestock and humans.

Contributions focusing on regulatory frameworks, One Health perspectives, and novel valorization strategies are particularly welcome. By integrating scientific, technological, and policy approaches, this Special Issue seeks to highlight how the responsible use of Category 3 ABPs can promote both sustainability and resilience within the food system.

Dr. Marta Castrica
Prof. Dr. Valerio Giaccone
Dr. Sebastiana Failla
Guest Editors

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