Efficacy of hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, screening and dilution in reducing the effects of mold contaminated corn in pigs

Corn naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON) (~ 15 mg DON kg−1 corn) replaced uncontaminated corn in corn-soybean meal diets fed ad libitum to piglets in a series of short-term trials. In a preliminary trial, inclusion of 72% mold-contaminated corn in a diet caused a severe reduction in growth rate. In trial two, 0.5% hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS) was added to diets containing 50% and 25% contaminated corn. In trial three, 1% HSCAS was added to diets containing 50 and 25% contaminated corn. Trial four involved screening contaminated corn and incorporating the screened corn into a diet. Feed intake and gain-to-feed ratio were not reliable criteria due to excessive feed wastage by some pigs fed diets containing contaminated corn. The addition of HSCAS at either 0.5 or 1% did not influence average daily gain (ADG) of the pigs in these trials (P > 0.05). Screening did not improve ADG (P > 0.05) nor did it appreciably reduce the level of DON. In a sieving study, contaminated corn on the smallest screens had the highest DON levels but these screens removed only a small portion of the initial sample. Decreasing the level of the contaminated corn in the diets from 72 to 25% improved ADG (P < 0.05). Dilution of contaminated corn with uncontaminated corn was the only effective method of reducing the effect of DON in these trials.