FeedMax, Prairie Orchard Farms and Focus Feeds have agreed to co-operate in developing and marketing chicken enhanced with omega 3 and selenium in Canada and abroad.
Prairie Orchard Farms, a Winnipeg-owned and operated meat producer, has been working for several months with Focus Feeds, a locally owned feed company, on identifying various poultry feed combinations that will add healthy fatty acids to the meat.
“Trial results have clearly demonstrated that the poultry has been sufficiently enriched with omega 3 and selenium after being fed a specialized diet,” said Willy Hoffmann, president of Prairie Orchard Farms.
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Prairie Orchard was one of the first firms to develop omega 3 enhanced pork by feeding the animals flax, and was later able to successfully apply the same technique to chickens.
Processors interested in using the feed technology would be able to buy the premixed poultry rations from Focus Feeds or FeedMax, and use it under a licensing agreement offered by Prairie Orchard. The enhanced chicken products could then be marketed under Prairie Orchard’s label, their own, or that of a third party.
“I think it will be driven in two directions. It will be pulled by a grocery chain and pushed by a processor to his customer base,” Hoffman said.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have both granted label approvals identifying the meat’s special characteristics, which provide 1.5 grams of omega 3 fatty acids and between 80 and 100 percent of the recommended daily requirement for selenium per 100 gram serving.
FeedMax is the feed division of Paterson GlobalFoods.
GlobalFoods, through its national and international offices and contacts, will produce and market the enhanced chicken under several labels, including NutraSun, Prairie Orchard Farms, Verdancia Farms and private labels.
