FEDIAF 2025 micronutrient upper limits

FEDIAF 2025 sets two kinds of upper limits in its nutrient tables (sections 3.1.3 and Tables III-3a/III-4a): a nutritional maximum (N) — the highest level not expected to cause harmful effects, which FEDIAF recommends commercial pet foods not exceed — and a legal maximum (L) per EU feed-additive legislation (Regulation 1831/2003 register), mandatory for all life stages and applying to the total amount in the finished product when the nutrient is added as an additive. Dog values (per 100 g DM): Vitamin A nutritional maximum 40,000 IU (N) — excess causes hypervitaminosis A; Vitamin D maximum 320 IU (N) (legal 227); trace-element legal maxima: Zinc 22.70 mg (L) (= 227 mg/kg DM), Copper 2.80 mg (L) (= 28 mg/kg), Iron 68.18 mg (L), Manganese 17.00 mg (L), Iodine 1.10 mg (L), Selenium 56.80 µg (L) (= 0.568 mg/kg). Cat values (per 100 g DM): Vitamin A maximum 40,000 IU (N) for adult & growth and 33,333 IU (N) for reproduction (legal 227); Vitamin D maximum 3,000 IU (N); the same trace-element legal maxima as dogs (Cu 2.80, Fe 68.18, Mn 17.00, I 1.10 mg; Se 56.80 µg; Zn 22.70 mg per 100 g DM). If a nutrient comes exclusively from feed materials (not added as an additive), the legal maximum does not apply and the nutritional maximum, when listed, should be used instead.