Managing excess calcium in the diet has become a big challenge, especially in dry extruded pet foods with elevated protein levels. This is almost exclusively an issue with the protein meals derived from rendering and their associated bone ash. This has become even more problematic with the changing raw material supply chain, increasing pet food demand and the drive for more protein as a product positioning.
In the current era of pet food, we have numerous moving parts to balance when assembling formulas. We balance the desires of the customer, communicated to us through sales and marketing. Then, we balance the constraints on labeling from the regulations and through processing with our operations. Finally, we balance the changes in ingredient composition from suppliers and the periodic updates to nutrient requirements as new science becomes available. Nutrient minimums are typically straightforward—this much X ingredient to achieve Y nutrient level. However, nutrient maximums can be problematic because they come along as an indirect result of the ingredients selected.
