Is This Toxic Food Additive in Your Dog and Cat's Food, Chelated Minerals Are Not Good for Your Dog and Cat

★ 6 min read

In this article:

1. Chelated Minerals Are Not Appropriate for Dogs and Cats
   
2. Natural Trace Minerals vs. Toxic Heavy Metals
3. Trace Minerals from Raw and Fresh Food
   
4. Trace Mineral Loss in Highly Processed Pet Food
5. Chelated Minerals Cause Health Issues
6. Industrial Trace Minerals Cause Health Issues
   
7. Pet Food Products That Contain Chelated Minerals and Inorganic Minerals
8. Read Your Pet's Food, Treat and Supplement Ingredient List
   

1. Chelated Minerals Are Not Appropriate for Dogs and Cats

Chelated minerals are a common ingredient in pet food, treats and supplements. Chelated minerals are not species appropriate and aren’t good for dogs and cats.

In 2012, the NCBI reported on a study assessing levels of heavy metals in the liver and kidneys of dogs from an urban environment. Pet food was confirmed as a source of heavy metal contaminants (e.g. cadmium, lead, and mercury), as was environmental pollution.

Another NCBI report states:

 
“…food can affect health not only be their nutrient content and the amount consumed, but also by non-nutritive components, such as pesticides, fertilizers, preservatives, heavy metals and microbiological components”

2. Natural Trace Minerals vs. Toxic Heavy Metals

 

Natural trace minerals are essential trace minerals that are present in low concentrations to sustain life. These minerals (e.g. copper, iodine, iron, manganese, selenium, and zinc), are present in whole fresh foods. 

 

When soil health is good, trace mineral content in fresh foods is optimal. When soils are depleted, (typically from use of conventional fertilizers), trace mineral content in plants are less than optimal. This is one reason why food grown following organic farming practices is nutritionally superior to conventional non-GMO, and GMO farming practices.

Our dogs and cats require trace minerals to maintain health. In the past tens of thousands of years, dogs and cats obtained essential trace minerals from their natural diet of raw, fresh whole foods.

Non-organic (industrially produced) trace minerals were introduced to the canine and feline diet when highly processed pet food became popular. Which by the way, also coincides with the escalation of serious health issues (inflammatory, chronic disease, including cancer), and the foreshortened life spans we see in today’s dogs and cats. Industrial trace minerals are NOT the same as trace minerals naturally obtained from fresh whole foods.

3. Trace Minerals From Raw and Fresh Food

 

Dogs and cats naturally obtain required levels of essential trace minerals from consuming a species appropriate, raw food (or minimally cooked) diet. A species appropriate diet includes raw animal protein, raw non-load bearing bones, healthy fats, and plant materials. 

 

For example:

 

Raw animal protein (muscle meat and organ meat) is an excellent source of iron, selenium and zinc.

 

Spinach also provides selenium and zinc. 

 

Raw pumpkin seeds, pineapple and spinach are rich in manganese (and other essential trace minerals). 

 

Raw liver is a good source of copper. 

 

Food sourced from pasture-raised, grass feed, organic, or wild-crafted sources provides the best trace mineral profile.

 

Conventional and (worse) GMO farming methods result in loss of trace minerals in food.

4. Trace Mineral Loss in Highly Processed Pet Food

Dry pet food, and canned (wet) pet food is a ‘highly processed’ product. Ingredients undergo a series of complex processing steps, which include high heat cooking.

Trace mineral loss occurs when whole food ingredients are cooked at high temperatures. The typical range of trace mineral loss from high heat cooking is 30% to 40%.

Additional trace mineral loss can occur due to one, or a combination of the following:

Meat, fat and bones sourced from factory farm (CAFO) raised animals. CAFO animals are fed a species inappropriate diet of GMO corn and GMO soy, supplemented with chelated trace minerals. 

 
Meat, bones and fat that are trace mineral deficient, and may also be contaminated with toxic heavy metals (i.e. arsenic, mercury and lead). Factory farm animal's bones are high in lead.

  

Condemned, denatured meat, bones and fat are used as an ingredient in many pet food products. Condemned denatured meat, bones and fat are trace mineral deficient.

 
Fruit and vegetables grown in soil treated with conventional fertilizers, results in a mineral deficient plant.

 

The end result is a product that is at minimum 40% trace mineral deficient.

To ‘make-up’ for the loss of trace minerals, the pet food industry adds industrial trace minerals, called chelated minerals.

• Approximately 70% of these minerals come from China.
• Chinese-sourced minerals can be tainted with other heavy metals, e.g. non-organic arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel and strontium from environmental pollution.

 

5. Industrial Trace Minerals Cause Health Issues

 

Industrial trace minerals fall into two basic categories – inorganic, and organic. Inorganic trace minerals and organic trace minerals are mined using the same methods – extraction from rock.

These minerals:

1. Aren't readily absorbed by the body
2. Are difficult for the body to excrete.
   

Natural trace minerals from whole foods are highly bioavailable to the body,

 

Industrial minerals burden the body’s eliminatory system. Minerals that the body cannot eliminate are stored in the body’s organs.  Eventually this can lead to a range of health issues.

 

For example:

1. Anemia
2. Digestive issues
3. Fatigue
4. Inflammation
5. Oxidization
6. Poor immune system response
7. Increased risk of urinary tract infections
8. Organ fatigue
9. Toxicity, and at worst death. Insufficient mineral intake can also cause a multitude of health issues, and at worst death.

6. Chelated Minerals

Organic? Synthetic.

First, we need to define the word ’organic’ in context of industrial trace minerals. The term ‘organic’ when used in this context indicates the presence of carbon - it does NOT mean organic as in organic farming. The chelated minerals used in pet food are not an 'organic food additive', that ARE a synthetic food additive.

Extraction From Rock and Binding

The first step in making chelated minerals involves industrial mining of rock, from which the minerals are then extracted. After extraction, the inorganic minerals are bound to a carbon-based substance using a synthetic-chemical process. Binding the inorganic mineral to a carbon-based substance increases the bioavailability of the mineral. When the binding process is complete, the trace mineral is said to be ‘organic’. Any remaining unbound particulate is removed. The resulting substance is then dried and ground to a powder.

Chelating Agents

Now we need to quickly talk about chelating agents. Chelating agents used in the manufacture of chelated trace minerals are natural or synthetic-chemical amino acids, e.g. cysteine, l-cysteine and glycine, or partially hydrolyzed proteins. Hydrolyzed proteins are obtained by intense processing in which the animal proteins (i.e. from factory farm raised animals), or plant proteins (i.e. GMO soy), or synthetic proteins are treated with caustic denaturing agents to separate the amino acids from proteins. The caustic, denaturants used are, for example - hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, and hexane (a solvent made from crude oil).

 

7. Pet Food Products That Contain Chelated Minerals, and Inorganic Minerals

.1 Dry Highly Processed Pet Food (Kibble) 

    all kibble contains chelated minerals, including:

1. Premium dry food diets
2. Veterinary prescription dry ‘food’ diets
3. Grocery store and tractor supply store kibble

.2 Canned and Wet Pet food  

     most canned and wet pet food contain chelated minerals

1. Premium
2. Veterinary prescription
3. Grocery store and tractor supply

.3 Air Dried, Dehydrated and Freeze Dried Pet Food 

    most include chelated minerals

 

.4 Raw Pet Food Premades

    some include chelated minerals

 

Chelated or inorganic minerals in raw pet food products:

1. Indicate a problem with the whole food ingredients used in the product. 
2. A truly good quality raw food does NOT contain chelated minerals.

8. Read Your Pet's Food, Treat and Supplement Ingredient List

If you're using products  that contain chelated minerals, your dog and cat’s system is working over-time to excrete the excess, chelated minerals for her body.

An example of a chelated mineral:

1. Copper amino acid chelate
2. Copper gluconate
3. Copper proteinate
4. Manganese gluconate
   
5. Manganese proteinate 
6. etc.
   

An example of an inorganic mineral:

1. Calcium carbonate
2. Copper sulfate (copper sulphate)
3. Copper carbonate
4. Sodium borate
   
5. Zinc oxide

Chelated minerals are industrially mined heavy metals, pulverized, and bound to synthetic amino acids and proteins that have been processed with toxic chemicals resulting in a partially bioavailable trace mineral. I consider chelated minerals to be a source of toxins.

The high rate of inflammatory and chronic disease, premature aging, renal failure, cancer, etc. seen in today’s companion animal population is not ‘natural' - it is a man-made epidemic. 

Dogs and cats are, casualties of the greedy pet food industry, and the unethical individuals behind the industry.

For the love of dogs and cats, pass it on.

 

 

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Article and graphics by Karen Rosenfeld