National Organic Program extends use of synthetic methionine

A note in a recent Federal Register posts an interim rule extending the acceptability of synthetic methionine for organic poultry through October 2012.
Additives will be restricted to four pounds per ton of feed for egg producing hens, five pounds per ton for broilers and six pounds per ton for turkeys. Calculations performed by industry experts indicated a significant increase in cost of diets to achieve acceptable levels of methionine in the absence of synthetic products including DL-methionine and methionine hydroxy analog.
There is no scientific justification thus far for banning either synthetic methionine or lysine from organic diets as these compounds are the same structure as the equivalent amino acids found in vegetable ingredients and are absorbed and metabolized in the same way as plant-source amino acids.