zinc sulfate

What it is

The inorganic sulfate of zinc, sitting between oxide and the chelates on both absorption and price. The form most human zinc supplements use, doing the same skin-coat-immune work in pets.

Why it's in pet food

The pragmatist's zinc: reliable absorption without chelate pricing. Its presence reads as a formulator making ordinary, defensible choices.

How Bowlmark scores it

Scores are deterministic math over the printed label — the rules below apply to every product identically, and nothing estimates or fills in a blank.

Neutral, like the whole mineral aisle. If zinc interests you, the form matters less than the formulation's coverage of it — and for the one zinc story with real clinical teeth (northern-breed zinc-responsive dermatosis), see the zinc proteinate page, where the absorbable-form conversation actually applies.

Read the full methodology

Foods that list zinc sulfate

Ranked by score where scores exist. Placement here is never sold.

• Kettle Creek Farmhouse Chicken & Sweet Potato94
• Copperfield Cats Kitten Heritage Chicken & Oat Recipe93
• Meadow Farms Chicken & Oatmeal Puppy93
• Whisker & Pine Wild-Caught Salmon & Lentil Recipe93
• Copper Hollow Lamb & Brown Rice Sensitive Skin & Stomach92
• Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Adult Dry Dog Food - Chicken & Brown Rice91
• Copper Hollow Whitefish & Potato Limited Ingredient91
• Diamond Naturals All Life Stages Dog Chicken & Rice Formula91

Sources

• NRC Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats (2006)
• AAFCO Dog & Cat Food Nutrient Profiles (2016)

Related ingredients

• calcium carbonate
• calcium iodate
• copper proteinate
• sodium selenite
• zinc oxide
• zinc proteinate

Further reading

• The guaranteed analysis, decoded
• How to read a pet food label