In this exciting update, discover how feeding direct fed microbials (including eubiotics, postbiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics) is becoming increasingly widespread during food animal production. Beneficial effects particularly in cattle, pigs, aquaculture, and poultry, including improved general health, foodborne pathogen reduction, more efficient food utilization, increased growth rate and increased milk and egg production. Successes from feeding direct fed microbials in many food animal species which ensures their continual integration into part of a holistic food animal production scheme. Unfortunately, several fundamental questions remain about how and why probiotic approaches succeed, and which kind of probiotic-type products are best for specific production scenarios and schemes (e.g., grass-fed, never-ever antibiotics).  Early establishment and retention of a balanced gastrointestinal microbial ecosystem (non-dysbiotic condition) is critical for a non-native biological additive to be effective in young animals. Therefore, the effectiveness of direct fed microbials in some food animal species may be an indirect consequence of speeding up the establishment and succession of the dominant microflora characteristic of the adult gastrointestinal tract, and preventing a dysbiotic ecosystem from establishing in the gut. We must understand the critical phases and processes involved in microbiota/microbiome establishment in the gut, and how they impact the outputs of the microbial fermentation. By linking the activity of the native and non-native microbial populations and how they interact, we can better design more tailored direct-fed microbials for use at the farm level. Several additional areas of future research directions are also suggested for further development and implementation of next generation direct-fed microbials as advances in sequencing technologies and bioinformatic programs become available. Continued research on direct fed microbials and prebiotics in general should markedly expand their commercial applications, and commercial acceptance and penetration in the animal production market. 

The practice of supplementing direct fed microbial and prebiotic additives to domestic animals during growth is becoming more widespread in food animal production. Beneficial effects particularly in cattle, pigs and poultry, including improved general health, foodborne pathogen reduction, more efficient food utilization, faster growth rate and increased milk and egg production are common results. The success associated with direct fed microbial and prebiotic applications in multiple species ensures their continued commercialization and the widespread use of such additives. However, several fundamental questions remain about how and why probiotic products work, and which kind of probiotic products are best for specific production scenarios.

It appears that early establishment and retention of an ecological balance in the gastrointestinal tract is an important first step for an external biological additive to be effective in young animals. Therefore, it is possible that the effectiveness of direct fed microbials and prebiotics in some animal species may only be an indirect consequence of speeding up the establishment and succession of the dominant microflora characteristic of the adult gastrointestinal tract. Consequently, an understanding of the key processes during establishment of microflora in the gastrointestinal system that lead to the subsequent fermentation characteristics and ecological balance exhibited by the highly protective microflora is needed. Several additional areas of future research directions are also suggested for further development and implementation of these biological approaches as new molecular and drug delivery technologies become available. Continued research on direct fed microbials and prebiotics in general should markedly expand their commercial applications.

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The economic impact of food-borne illnesses caused by bacteria associated with food animals ranges from $10 to 40 billion (USD) per year, and effects across the EU are similar in scale. Due to the large drain on the GDP, as well as human health and societal impacts, research and regulations over the past 100 years have focused on improving food safety which has resulted in the U.S. and EU currently having the safest food supply in history. Unfortunately, the very safety of the food supply causes increased notice of the sporadic outbreaks of food-borne illness, receiving intensive media coverage and instilling fear and distrust in the public mind in regards to the safety of their food supply. This book encapsulates many of the arenas in which the future improvements in food safety and human health will be explored.