The term "Altromin standard diet" stands for test animal diets
- produced as “fixed-formula-diet”
- systematically controlled as to its ingredients and relevant contaminants
- data documentation collected for many years
- fixed preset standards and revealed tolerances
Based on this “Altromin standard diet” simultaneously stands for reproducibility and comparability and consequently for GLP-conform test animal diet. The standard diets are within the tolerance limits fixed by GV-SOLAS*.
“Altromin standard diets” can be supplied:
- as pellets, as extrudates and in the form of flour
- pellets and flour specially treated (poor in germs)
- barrier-free after the disinfection of the PE-bag surface
- with additional vitamisation (fortified) – auto-clavable
- as irradiated feeding stuff
- in different packages from 1 kg to 25 kg
- in vacuum packaging from 1 kg to 25 kg
- with chemical analysis
- with microbiological test report
- with testing of each batch for undesired substances (certificate feeding stuff), at extra charge
Standard diet – an unknown concept in the German feeding stuff law!
Individual and mixed feeding stuffs, standard feeding stuffs and complementary feeding stuff has been mentioned in the German feeding stuff law.
What do these concepts state? Nothing, except that you can feed animals these substances either alone or as a mixture, or that a feeding stuff as mixture can meet the animal’s feeding requirements and/or that it serves only as a complement to cover certain needs.
Can these statements be satisfactory for a scientist who works with test animals?
In our opinion THEY CANNOT!
It is good to know that a feeding stuff can meet the animal’s nutritional requirements, but you can feed animals with many things. To meet the needs – the main problem of productive livestock husbandry – is a pre-condition for test animal nutrition – and the requirement for test animal feeding stuff is based on this pre-condition.
Test animal feeding stuff has the task to transform the nutrition into a negligible factor for the experiment. This can only be achieved through the uniformity of raw materials and ingredients. However, uniformity can only be measured by determining reference parameters, i.e. by fixing standards.
Over 50 years ago Altromin started to set these standards and they have them measured by everyone – therefore “standard”.
Specially treated standard diets
Specially treated diets are produced based on a process that has been developed by Altromin; when used in SPF sectors they increase safety, at the same time saving work and energy. These diets have been used for many years in the large SPF fields.
The special Altromin process makes a germ reduction possible. This fact as well as the practical use for many years have proven the safety of the applied germ reduction process.
Below please find the advantages of the specially treated diets:
- Safety
- The findings regarding the germ content are known before infiltration into the SPF field
- The packaging with airbags ensures control over a possible contamination, as untight packaging no longer has airbags
- Work and energy savings, cost savings as the autoclaving process can be eliminated
- Reduction of friction as the pellets do not become brittle.
- Infiltration is carried out through gas chambers or dip tanks.
- The contents of nutritive and active substances are also known behind the barrier and are not changed in an uncontrolled way by autoclaving.