The potential uses of organic acids as forage and grain preservatives and in livestock nutrition has been known for decades and is documented in many scientific publications. Natural by-products of microbial fermentation, as well as occurring naturally in plants, organic acids have been used for thousands of years as food preservatives.

Organic acids have been used for decades in commercial compound feeds, mostly in feed preservation, for which formic and propionic acids are particularly effective. In the European Union, these two organic acids and several others (e.g. lactic, benzoic, citric, fumaric and sorbic acids) and their salts (e.g. calcium formate, calcium propionate, potassium diformate and ammonium formate) are widely used.