{"topic_id":"ECFR_pet_food_mineral_limits","category":"ecfr","context":"---\ntopic_id: \"ECFR_pet_food_mineral_limits\"\ncategory: \"ecfr\"\ntitle: \"ECFR pet food mineral limits\"\nlang: en\nsource_document: \"U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR)\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"ecfr\"\n  title: \"ECFR pet food mineral limits\"\n  url: \"\"\n  retrieved: \"\"\n  ref: \"\"\n  doc_type: \"official source\"\n  needs_review: true\nauthority_tier: T1\nauthority_tier_basis: \"T1:us-gov\"\nauthority_tier_date: 2026-08-04\n---\nAAFCO vs FDA on mineral limits for pet food: the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles set minimums for Ca, P, K, Na, Cl, Mg, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, I and Se (no cobalt line), but maximums for only a few nutrients. Per the 2014 profiles (carried forward through the 2024 Official Publication): Calcium maximum 2.5% DM with the split footnote — 1.8% DM for Growth & Reproduction and All Life Stages products, 2.5% for Adult Maintenance (calorie basis: 6.25 g/1000 kcal, with 4.5 g/1000 kcal for large-breed growth, ≥70 lb adult weight); Phosphorus maximum 1.6% DM (4.0 g/1000 kcal); Iodine maximum 11 mg/kg DM (2.75 mg/1000 kcal); Selenium maximum 2 mg/kg DM (0.5 mg/1000 kcal). AAFCO sets no maximums for sodium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, iron, copper or manganese in the dog table, and the cat table lists almost no maximums (tryptophan 1.7% DM and vitamin A 333,300 IU/kg DM being the notable exceptions). FDA, for its part, regulates minerals added as additives (e.g., 21 CFR 573.920 selenium) but does not set across-the-board mineral maximums for complete pet food. FEDIAF is the stricter comparator on trace elements, with EU legal maxima (L) for zinc (227 mg/kg DM), copper (28 mg/kg), iron (681.8 mg/kg), manganese (170 mg/kg), iodine (11 mg/kg) and selenium (0.568 mg/kg).\n","sources":["ecfr — ECFR pet food mineral limits"],"source":{"authority":"ecfr","title":"ECFR pet food mineral limits","url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/","retrieved":"","ref":"","doc_type":"official source","source_document":"U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR)","verification_file":""},"source_document":"U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR)","source_file":"","trust":{"authority_tier":"T1","fidelity":"verbatim","license":null,"display_grade":"A"},"tokens_estimated":159,"generated_at":"2026-07-16","tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}