Minerals: Page 2

Clay minerals: Do these ingredients have merit in petfood?

There are several petfoods on the market that contain clay minerals such as montmorillonite and bentonite. Inclusion of these earth elements at small amounts are purported to benefit our pets.

Betaine: natural ingredient for next generation of petfoods

Betaine has become more common in pet diets in the last decade as natural and unique ingredients have become the driving force behind new petfoods. Betaine is a nearly pure chemical nutrient that hails from natural origins, and it certainly isn’t mainstream.

While nutritionists will group betaine with the water soluble â€œB vitamins,â€ it is, classically speaking, an amino acid (molecular weight 117.15).

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.

Bones: a not-so-novel source of essential pet nutrients

In human foods, bones have long been a staple for making ingredients like soup stock and gelatin; however, people don’t often eat bones directly. Rather, any bone that lands on our plates as a function of eating a steak, drumstick or chop often ends up being discarded or shared with the family pets.

Potassium chloride: popular potassium source for petfoods

When balancing the macro-mineral portion of a petfood, calcium and phosphorus are usually the first priority, magnesium seldom requires adjustment, and sodium and chloride, if inadequate, are easily met with a pinch of salt (sodium chloride). All that remains is potassium.

Calcium carbonate: safe, effective, economical for pet diets

Calcium is a vital nutrient for growth and sustained pet health. It is a principal structural component of bone and teeth, facilitates blood clotting binding-proteins, serves as a key conductor of nerve signals, initiates muscle contractions, activates select physiological enzymes and buffers pH changes.

Dietary phosphorus sources

Phosphorus is an absolutely critical dietary element. Metabolically, it is involved in the structural composition of bone, is a vital part of genetic messaging in phosphodiester linkages of DNA and RNA nucleotides, is involved with transport of energy through high-energy phosphate bonds (ATP), plays a role in systemic acid-base balance and is involved in fat and protein utilization via phospholipids and phosphoproteins.

Dealing with choline chloride

Dogs and cats, like many other species, require choline. It's the "Intel inside" kind of molecule that allows others to function to their full potential. Almost all commercial petfoods contain supplemental choline, predominantly from choline chloride. However, putting choline chloride into the formula can have profound effects on the way the ingredients are combined and processed during production due to the molecule's hygroscopic (water-loving) nature.Dogs and cats, like many other species, require choline

Kelp: a viable source of iodine?

Kelp is part of a broader group of seaweeds/algae that have become popular ingredients in dog and cat supplements, home-prepared petfoods, raw petfoods and specialty or boutique petfoods. Despite these benefits, the trace mineral iodine is the main reason for adding kelp. Is it a viable source of iodine?

Are chelated minerals worth it?

In the petfood industry, inorganic forms of essential trace minerals such as iron, zinc, copper, manganese, iodine and selenium have been the staple. In recent years, though, chelated forms of these minerals have found their way into a number of petfoods. The questions are whether they provide additional benefit to the dog or cat and if they have a place in petfood.

Chelated minerals are also known as organic minerals.

Salt: what is wrong with it?

For years, salt had been one of those ingredients in petfood that was so innocuous it had become almost invisible. Recently, though, consumers have been expressing concerns about it. This new attention to salt indicates it has become one of those ingredients with an issue.

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