Table 1.

Measured nutrient content in 20 plant-based canine foods commercially available in Canada and labeled for adult or all life stages compared to the AAFCO and FEDIAF recommended essential nutrient concentrations for canine adult maintenance on a dry matter basis (unit per 100 g dry matter).

Nutrient (Unit/100 g DM)	Median	Range	AAFCO *	FEDIAF
				95 kcal/kg 0.75 **	110 kcal/kg 0.75 ***
Crude protein (g)	27.6	17.3–36.6	18.0	21.00	18.00
Arginine (g)	1.62	1.03–2.57	0.51	0.60	0.52
Histidine (g)	0.60	0.36–0.76	0.19	0.27	0.23
Isoleucine (g)	1.40	0.88–1.65	0.38	0.53	0.46
Leucine (g)	2.41	1.49–5.26	0.68	0.95	0.82
Lysine (g)	1.26	0.59–2.09	0.63	0.46	0.42
Methionine (g)	0.52	0.22–1.50	0.33	0.46	0.40
Methionine + Cystine (g)	0.83	0.25–1.97	0.65	0.88	0.76
Phenylalanine (g)	1.48	1.03–2.24	0.45	0.63	0.54
Phenylalanine + Tyrosine (g)	2.56	1.61–3.89	0.74	1.03	0.89
Taurine (g)	0.11	0.00–0.21	n/a
Threonine (g)	1.30	0.85–1.56	0.48	0.60	0.52
Tryptophan (g)	0.29	0.15–0.38	0.16	0.20	0.17
Valine (g)	1.53	0.96–1.90	0.49	0.68	0.59
Crude fat (g)	13.8	8.5–25.1	5.5
Linoleic acid (g)	6.41	1.40–17.88	1.1	1.32	1.53
ALA (g)	0.70	0.16–2.13	n/a
Arachidonic acid (g)	0.01	0.00–0.03	n/a
EPA + DHA (g)	0.00	0.00–0.05	n/a
GLA (g)	0.01	0.00–0.07	n/a
Calcium (g)	1.07	0.38–1.90	0.5–2.5	0.58–2.50	0.50–2.50
Phosphorus (g)	0.8	0.5–1.5	0.4–1.6	0.46–1.6	0.4–1.6
Ca:P ratio (g)	1.3	0.8–2.5	1:1–2:1
Potassium (g)	1.11	0.73–1.72	0.6	0.58	0.50
Sodium (g)	0.34	0.02–1.27	0.08	0.12	0.10
Chloride (g)	0.93	0.09–2.47	0.12	0.17	0.15
Magnesium (g)	0.15	0.10–0.23	0.06	0.08	0.07
Iron (mg)	22.76	10.71–75.04	4.0	4.17–68.18 (L)	3.60–68.18 (L)
Copper (mg)	2.34	0.89–5.47	0.73	0.83–2.80 (L)	0.72–2.80 (L)
Manganese (mg)	4.13	1.39–7.39	0.50	0.67–17.00 (L)	0.58–17.00 (L)
Zinc (mg)	15.52	4.46–35.93	8.0	8.34–22.70 (L)	7.20–22.70 (L)
Vitamin A (IU)	1001	274–3973	500–25,000	702.00–40,000	606.00–40,000
Vitamin D2 (IU)	0	0–152	n/a
Vitamin D3 (IU)	73	0–172	n/a
Total vitamin D (IU)	91	0–172	50–300	63.90–227.00 (L)	55.20–227.00 (L)
Vitamin B12 (mg)	0.00434	0.0000–0.69074	0.0028	0.00387	0.00335

* AAFCO nutrient profile for adult maintenance of dogs (minimum or minimum–maximum) [1]. ** FEDIAF recommendations for adult maintenance of sedentary dogs, for an expected daily energy intake of 95 kcal/kg^0.75 (minimum or minimum–maximum) [2]. *** FEDIAF recommendations for adult maintenance of active or working dogs, for an expected daily energy intake of 110 kcal/kg^0.75 (minimum or minimum–maximum) [2]. Bolded values are outside of the AAFCO recommended range. Italicized values are outside of the FEDIAF recommended range for dogs with an energy intake of 95 kcal/kg^0.75. Underlined values are outside of the FEDIAF recommended range for dogs with an energy intake of 110 kcal/kg^0.75. AAFCO = Association of American Feed Control Officials, FEDIAF = European Pet Food Industry Federation, NR = No recommendation, (L) = Legal limit.