Olive extracts are leaving the EU feed additive register: what it means, and how to prepare

Why olive extracts are being withdrawn as EU feed additives 

Adopted on 18 December 2025, Regulation (EU) 2025/2575 withdraws a list of feed additives from the EU market [1]. Among them is the entry for olive extract and olive leaf extract from Olea europaea L., listed with the botanically defined flavoring and appetizing substances and withdrawn for all animal species. 

It is important to read this decision for what it is.  Olive extract and olive leaf extract are being withdrawn because the applications required for their re-evaluation were not submitted. It is not a conclusion that olive-derived products are unsafe. But once the transition periods end, these extracts can no longer be marketed or used under their former additive authorization [1]. 

For many nutritionists, olive extracts have been  familiar botanical ingredient in feed formulations for many years.Change like this can feel unsettling, especially when such ingredients are well established in existing formulations. We want to help you understand the timeline clearly and plan ahead calmly. 

When do olive extracts have to be removed from feed? 

The phase-out happens in three stages, giving the market time to adapt [1]: 

The first deadline is only around three months away. Formulations reviewed now will make the transition smoother for your mills, your customers and your animals. 

EU rules for botanical feed additives are changing 

This withdrawal is part of a much larger re-evaluation. The EU program originally involved more than 800 feed flavoring additives, and the FEFANA Feed Flavoring Authorization Consortium submitted 58 dossiers covering 858 substances [6]. Where no dossier was maintained, entries are now being phased out: the Annex of Regulation 2025/2575 alone lists around 50 flavoring entries, including the olive entry [1]. 

For the botanicals that are re-authorized, the conditions of use are becoming increasingly precise. Instead of one broad authorization for all species, recent regulations may set different maximum levels per species and category, detailed compositional specifications, compulsory analytical methods, rules on premixtures and drinking water, user-protection measures and conditions for use alongside other additives. Two recent examples show what this means in practice: 

For formulators, every additional limit means another calculation across the complete formulation, especially when supplying several species and markets. This is one reason why we see growing interest, particularly in France, in plant powders and well-characterized raw materials standardized in naturally occurring compounds. 

Feed material or feed additive? 

The European Commission's Recommendation 2011/25/EU offers guidance on where the line sits [4]. Whole plants, plant parts and products of limited physical processing, such as crushing, grinding or drying, generally point toward feed-material status. Specifically extracted, purified or standardized preparations intended mainly to perform an additive function are more likely to fall under the feed-additive framework. Each product is assessed case by case, looking at its manufacturing process, composition, degree of purification, intended function and use. 

Feed materials do not need an individual EU authorization or periodic renewal. That does not mean less care. They must still meet the requirements for safety, traceability, labelling, botanical purity, composition and control of undesirable substances, and a product may only carry a description from the EU Catalogue of Feed Materials if it meets that entry’s requirements [5]. 

The whole olive, still within reach 

The olive is not leaving animal nutrition. It is returning to its whole form: physically processed whole-olive products, such as Herbonis olive pulp, may qualify as feed materials rather than feed additives. Herbonis olive pulp comes from olive-oil production and is obtained through physical processing only: mechanical separation, drying and milling, with no solvent extraction and no isolation of individual compounds. It therefore follows the feed-material route rather than the additive route. 

What remains is the olive totum, kept as nature made it: more than 40 naturally occurring bioactives from Greek Koroneiki olives, including phenolics such as hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol and triterpenes such as maslinic acid and squalene. And like everything we do at Herbonis, it rests on careful science: 

For feed manufacturers currently using olive extracts, this is a timely moment to review formulations.. 

Listen and talk to us 

In our latest podcast episode of "Beyond the Feed", we explain what the withdrawal means in practice and why the market is moving toward standardized plant raw materials. [Listen to the episode: podcast link] 

"This isn't a safety decision. And the olives aren’t leaving animal nutrition. We now need to use olive totum instead of olive extracts." 

Q& A with our expert Clémence Messant  

Clémence Messant, Product Development Manager at Innovad Group (picture) 

Reviewing your formulations? Our team is here to guide you through the transition and help you find the right approach for your animals.
Contact Clémence Messant, Product Development Manager at Innovad Group.

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