Trace element concentrations of some pet foods commercially available in Turkey

Trace element levels in different types of cat and dog foods consumed in Turkey were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after wet digestion method. Data, expressed on a dry weight basis, were analyzed according to food type (cat or dog, and dry or wet), predominant flavour (beef, fish, chicken), and manufacturer country. Good accuracy was ensured by the analysis of standard reference material (NIST-SRM 8418 Wheat Gluten). The levels of investigated trace elements in the samples were determined in the range of 3.33–16.6, 5.78–19.7, 1.66–15.5, 23.9–71.1, 3.28–24.4, 0.58–3.73, and 0.60–2.47 μg/g for Cu, Ni, Pb, Fe, Mn, Cr, and Cd, respectively. The correlation test was also performed to investigate correlations between the metal contents in samples.