Chelated and Proteinate Minerals

Chelated and Proteinate Minerals appears on the labels of 201 of the 244 recipes we have read and scored (82 percent of the database), in label forms including Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Magnesium Proteinate, MINERALS [Zinc Amino Acid Complex and 43 more label forms.

What it is

Trace minerals, zinc, iron, copper, manganese, bound to amino acids or proteins, named on panels as proteinates, chelates or amino acid complexes.

Why makers use it

The bond is meant to carry the mineral through the gut wall more reliably than the plain sulfate or oxide forms, which also appear and cost less.

What to watch for

A panel mixing chelated and plain forms is normal economics, not a fault. The nutrient guarantee rests on the total, not the form.

Highest scoring recipes that carry it

The full database, filterable by brand, format, life stage and grains, is the reviews index; the food finder answers it by the proteins a dog must avoid.

Often on the same panels

Vitamin Supplements (the Vitamin Pack), Salt, Selenium Yeast and Sodium Selenite, Mixed Tocopherols. The full dictionary is the ingredient index.