PANEL MEMBERS

Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and efficacy of astaxanthin dimethyldisuccinate (CAROPHYLL ® Stay-Pink) as a feed additive for salmon and trout. CAROPHYLL ® Stay-Pink (C®SP) is a feed additive, containing about 11 % astaxanthin dimethyldisuccinate (ATX-dimethyldisuccinate). The purpose of C®SP is to provide farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with a source of the carotenoid astaxanthin (ATX) which confers the characteristic pink colour to wild salmonids. Orally administrated ATX-dimethyldisuccinate is hydrolysed and converted to free ATX in the intestine of fish, then absorbed, metabolised and distributed in the same manner as free ATX. ATX-dimethyldisuccinate is efficacious in colouring the flesh of salmonids. This conclusion is based on studies comparing ATX-dimethyldisuccinate with free synthetic ATX, which produced similar results concerning flesh redness and ATX content in salmon and trout. Efficacy was demonstrated in the dose range of 20 to 100 mg ATX equivalents kg-1 feed, redness with tissue deposition reaching a plateau at about 60 mg ATX equivalents kg-1 feed