BSM’s Formulation Case Study Bites: Choline in Pork Liver

Case Study Bite #2 – BSM Partners identifies a possible driver behind elevated choline in pork liver.

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The background and challenge

Choline, a critical nutrient that provides the precursor for acetylcholine production, is a required nutrient in both cats and dogs. Neither the National Research Council (NRC) nor the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) has a recommended maximum for daily choline consumption in either species.^1,2 However, there is evidence that choline toxicosis can cause the presentation of severe and/or fatal health problems in cats.³ When a client presented lab reports of a test product with significantly elevated choline chloride, BSM Partners recommended launching a root cause investigation, which focused on the following:

• Retesting product at multiple products to eliminate lab error.
• Testing raw materials within the diet for choline chloride content.

The solution

Unexpectedly low or high analytical values are driven largely by lab error, raw material variation, or operational errors in adding ingredients with a high nutritional concentration, like vitamin premixes or crystalline amino acids. Raw material variation can rarely be eliminated, but it can be managed by frequent testing to keep formulation software up-to-date and proactively identify nutritional challenges. Pork liver came back unexpectedly high in choline content.

1. BSM launched an investigation into pork production.
2. Changes in porcine diets and other challenges in swine production were identified as possible causes for elevated choline.

The result

Soybean meal is one of the primary ingredients used in swine feed. As soybean meal increases in price, swine diets generally decrease the amount of soybean meal. To compensate for that decrease in a choline-rich ingredient, choline chloride is supplemented at much higher levels. Excess choline can be stored in the liver, so higher choline diets are a possible explanation.

Record heat waves could also lead to further elevation of choline in pork livers, as choline chloride is increased in diets to help protect swine from heat stress.

The numbers

• 10% pork liver inclusion delivered 3.3 times the recommended dose for choline.

References

1. National Research Council, Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2006.
2. Association of American Feed Control Officials, 2023 Official Publication. Association of American Feed Control Officials, 2023.
3. Peloquin, SK, Rotstein, DS, Jones, JL, Guag, J, Carey, L, Palmer, LA, Wolf, K, Burkholder, W, Hodges, A, Payne, L, Reimschuessel, R. Presumed Choline Chloride Toxicosis in Cats with Positive Ethylene Glycol Tests After Consuming a Recalled Cat Food. Topics in Companion Animal Medicine 2021; 44: 100548.

 

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About the Author

Corrine Harris Trevino formerly served as a Manager of Technical Services in the Product Innovation Group at BSM Partners. Outside of work, she can generally be found walking, training, and playing with her dogs or wrangling her flock of sheep after a daring escape. Corrine also declares a bias for the Cardigan Welsh Corgi, which she believes to be the superior of the two Corgi breeds.