Alternative fat sources to animal fat for pigs

The use of fats and oils in diets for pigs is of great importance due to their high energy value. As a consequence of the BSE‐crisis in the European Union, the amount of animal fat available for animal feeds has been reduced, and alternative fat sources are of increasing importance. In this paper, we review our main findings on the effects of diets with different fat sources on apparent fat digestibility in pigs. A method for quantitative measurement of fat extraction from feed and faeces has been developed, and this method has been used in a digestibility trial, in which diets added 5% of either animal fat, palm oil mix, palm oil, vegetable oil mix, coconut oil, or rapeseed oil were tested in weaned and growing pigs. It was concluded that several vegetable fat sources (palm oil mix, palm oil, coconut oil, rapeseed oil) could be used as alternatives to animal fat in pig feed, whereas fat blends should be avoided.