FEDIAF 2025 wet vs dry processing

FEDIAF 2025 sets processing-dependent nutrient minimums where heat treatment demonstrably changes nutrient bioavailability — the clearest case being taurine in cats. Studies cited in the guidelines show taurine bioavailability is lower when cats are fed heat-treated canned food (Hickman MA et al. 1990, 1992), so a heat-processed wet cat food needs to contain approximately 2 to 2.5 times more taurine than a dry extruded food, which should contain 0.1% DM taurine (Douglass GM et al. 1991, Earle KE et al. 1991). Accordingly, the cat table (III-4a) gives separate minimums: dry pet food 0.13 / 0.10 g per 100 g DM (adult, 75/100 kcal MER) and 0.10 g for growth/reproduction, versus canned pet food 0.27 / 0.20 g (adult) and 0.25 g (growth/reproduction). The same processing logic explains why canned minimums sit well above dry minimums even though both are expressed on the same dry-matter basis. Historically, the late-1980s link between commercial heat-processed cat foods and taurine-deficiency dilated cardiomyopathy (Pion P et al. 1987) drove these fortification rules — heat processing degrades taurine (Morris JG et al. 1994). FEDIAF's protein recommendations likewise assume an apparent crude protein digestibility of ≥80% for commercial foods; if that cannot be guaranteed (e.g., harsh processing), essential amino acid levels should be increased by at least 10%.