Potential to produce poultry feed from food wastes

The annual food waste in Australia is estimated at 7.5 million tonnes with the majority disposed of in landfills. This not only causes significant economic loss but also has a negative environmental impact. This study aimed at investigating the possibility of recycling food waste into feed for poultry. Nutrient contents of various waste streams were evaluated. The food waste collected from the services club and restaurant contained the highest levels of crude protein and crude fat ( 404 g/kg and 278 g/kg, respectively) while crude protein and crude fat content of food waste originating from bakeries and fruit-vegetable growers were 100 g/kg and 43 g/kg, respectively. The findings indicated that the blended material had an excessive Na concentration (6.5 g/kg), low Ca content (1.0 g/kg) and high/low concentrations of other nutrients relative to broiler grower feed requirements. Further studies are required to investigate the blending of waste streams with other nutrient sources to meet nutrient requirements. Microbial contamination, free fatty acids, oxidation and nutrient digestibility need to be considered before valuable recycled food wastes can be used as a feed source for poultry.