Abstract
Mineral content of complete pet food is regulated to ensure health of the companion animal population. Analysis of adherence to these regulatory guidelines has not been conducted. Here, mineral composition of complete wet (n = 97) and dry (n = 80) canine and feline pet food sold in the UK was measured to assess compliance with EU guidelines. A majority of foods complied with ≥8 of 11 guidelines (99% and 83% for dry and wet food, respectively), but many failed to provide nutritional minimum (e.g. Cu, 20% of wet food) or exceeded nutritional maximum (e.g. Se, 76% of wet food). Only 6% (6/97) of wet and 38% (30/80) of dry food were fully compliant. Some foods (20–30% of all analysed) had mineral imbalance, such as not having the recommended ratio of Ca:P (between 1:1 to 2:1). Foods with high fish content had high levels of undesirable metal elements such as arsenic. This study highlights broad non-compliance of a range of popular pet foods sold in the UK with EU guidelines (94% and 61% of wet and dry foods, respectively). If fed exclusively and over an extended period, a number of these pet foods could impact the general health of companion animals.
Highlights
IntroductionDogs and cats, have requirements for essential minerals that need to be supplied in their food[1]
Companion animals, dogs and cats, have requirements for essential minerals that need to be supplied in their food[1]
On an as-fed basis, fat content was similar between wet foods, but increased in dry foods fed to cats versus dogs (Table 1)
Summary
Dogs and cats, have requirements for essential minerals that need to be supplied in their food[1]. Levels of incorporation or ‘daily allowance’ within a diet for each nutrient are defined as ‘the level of intake of a nutrient or food component that appears to be adequate to meet the known nutritional needs of practically all healthy individuals It reflects the minimum requirement plus a safety margin for differences in availability between individual animals and for nutrient interactions. Long-term feeding of un-balanced or of diets deficient or excessive in certain minerals can have adverse impacts on animal health[6,7] For this reason, we assessed, for the first time in the European Union, mineral composition of a broad range of dry and wet foods for consumption by domestic dogs or cats. Many individual products were mineral imbalanced (e.g. Ca:P ratio as low as 0.3:1 or as high as 3:1) or had high concentrations of individual minerals (e.g. selenium ≥300 μg 100 g DM−1; arsenic ≥1.1 mg 100 g DM−1) that if fed exclusively for many months could impact the general health of companion animals
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