Antibiotic reduction is still an important topic in livestock farming. Since the ban on antibiotic growth promoters by the European Union, there has been an urgent demand for alternative biocide compounds to counter nutritional disorders, poor performance, and bacterial disease incidences. Drinking water is more and more being recognized as an important medium for intervention in this area. Kanters has recognized the power of water in antibiotic reduction decades ago and has been developing disinfectants, acidifiers and supplements to use in drinking water ever since.
Introduction
A study by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki compared the in vitro antibacterial activity of several water disinfectants, acidifiers and glyceride blends – including Kanters’ Aqua-clean, Premium Acid, Ultimate Acid and CFC Flora Mix.
They determined the minimum concentration of the products that inhibited bacterial growth (MIC) of the 13 most important poultry zoonotic bacteria (Table 1).
Results
In the category of water disinfectants, Aqua-clean had the lowest MIC for twelve out of the thirteen bacterial strains and a greater overall effectiveness at the recommended dose than the other two products. The test showed little to no reduction in pH value of the water, to which Aqua-clean owes its very low corrosiveness. The results of Aqua-clean compared to two competing products (marked as C 1 and C 2), are portrayed in Figure 1.
In the water acidifiers, Premium Acid and Ultimate Acid showed that they are highly effective, even if the drinking water didn’t reach the recommended pH value. Especially against Listeria innocua, they were far more effective than the other product (see Figure 2).
Out of the three glyceride blends, CFC Flora Mix performed the best against most of the bacterial strains (Figure 3). It has to be noted though, that CFC Flora Mix’s foremost goal is to support your poultry’s gut health, and not sanitizing drinking water. This makes its effectiveness against the tested bacteria even more impressive.
Conclusion
The study concluded that all tested products would be good candidates for lowering in vivo pathogen colonization. A study testing the in vivo effectiveness of these products is recommended, because of the lack of interferences that you would encounter in a practical situation.
From the nine products tested in this study, Kanters products were the top performers. This study also displayed that you need a total approach to reduce bacterial pressure sufficiently. Different bacteria and strains are vulnerable to different products and having multiple, complementary products will most effectively keep your animals healthy. Kanters offers such a total solution with disinfectants to start clean, acidifiers to stay clean and liquid nutritional supplements to support your animals in various scenarios.
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