Mineral salts and oxides
Also appears on labels as: zinc sulfate, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, manganous oxide
Minerals in their simple inorganic form: sulfates, oxides, and iodates.
Watched ingredients get highlighted on every product panel you open.
- Where it comes from
- Chemical manufacturing.
- Why it's in the product
- The cheapest way to hit a mineral requirement.
- Safety and toxicity
- Safe at formulated levels, and every one of these appears on the approved list for pet food. Oxides in particular are poorly absorbed compared with chelated forms, so their presence is an economy signal rather than a safety one.
- Interactions and who should be careful
- Sodium selenite is the one people flag online. Selenium is toxic in excess and essential in trace amounts, and the inclusion rates in pet food sit well inside the safe range. Selenium yeast is the better-absorbed alternative.
General reference, not veterinary advice. Dose, breed, and existing conditions change the answer, so talk to your vet before changing what your pet eats. Think we got this wrong? Tell us and we log it publicly.
Found in 104 scored products
Lowest scores first. Its presence here is not what drove those scores.
80 more scored products list this ingredient. Showing the 24 lowest-scoring.