Sodium selenite: Does this petfood ingredient warrant concern?

Selenium is an essential trace mineral for dogs and cats. Due to wide variation in selenium content among ingredients used to make petfoods, most manufacturers will include a supplemental source in their trace mineral premix. The predominant form used in petfood is sodium selenite, which has been used for decades without much issue.

Greg Aldrich, Ph.D.

January 10, 2012

Selenium is an essential trace mineral for dogs and cats. Due to wide variation in selenium content among ingredients used to make petfoods, most manufacturers will include a supplemental source in their trace mineral premix. The predominant form used in petfood is sodium selenite, which has been used for decades without much issue.

However, seeds of doubt and confusion have been planted by a few critics of the industry suggesting that sodium selenite (Na₂SeO₃ and the oxidized form sodium selenate, Na₂SeO₄) is unsafe and used by petfood manufacturers only because it is cheap. So, are the critics right or is there more to this selenium supplementation story?

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Processing Functional Ingredients

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