Project Summary Chemistry – Animal Food The production of safe, high quality commercial feeds and grain is critical for maintaining Iowa’s livestock inventory, including Iowa’s first in the nation ranking in hogs and egg-laying chickens, third in milk goats, and forth in cattle and calves feed. According to the Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER), a non-profit founded by the American Feed Industry Associates, Iowa leads the nation with over 21 million tons of total animal food consumed (IFEEDER, 2017). On any given day, there are over 100 million livestock animals consuming feed on Iowa farms (USDA, 2019). The meat, milk and eggs produced from Iowa livestock are consumed across the nation and around the world, which makes the quality of Iowa animal feeds vital to human food safety, as well, For example, in 2018 Iowa exported pork products to 33 countries according to Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA, 2019). Chemical and Biological contaminants in feed may accumulate in the tissue and fat of meat-producing animals. As the contaminants move up the food chain, the hazard from the contaminant can be magnified. Animal feed safety also includes food for a special subset of animals—pets. Pet illnesses caused by contaminated food tend to generate a high number of consumer complaints and attract a significant amount of media coverage. Iowa has 20 pet food facilities processing over 490,000 tons of ingredients into pet food every year (IFEEDER, 2020). A panel of mycotoxins chosen for testing under this cooperative agreement are three of greatest concern in Iowa feed: aflatoxins, fumonisins, and zearalenone. Two hundred animal feed samples and 100 pet food samples will be tested for mycotoxins. Another threat to animal feed is contamination with toxic elements. Metals can be toxic at very low doses. Toxic metals enter the animal food supply from the environment (through plants and water), but can also be leached from containers or utensils in direct contact with the food. They are non- biodegradable and difficult to excrete, leading to accumulation in tissues and toxicity. Metal accumulation increases for animals higher in the food chain. Two hundred mineral samples will be tested for heavy metals. These data will be shared with FDA and the results will mold the future years of this project.