Chromium! The forgotten mineral

[twinmommy]

@JB

True! So I’m really curious what company, what ingredient, and what the difference was :yes:

Well I went back and looked. The bag tag didn’t show very much information at all, so I called to ask about all the missing Vitamins & Minerals (Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, Iron, Manganese). Some of the items aren’t a big deal, the bag tag shows a minimum amount and the actual amount is slightly higher, but the ones that were not as advertised are below.

Added Selenium - bag says 0.3 Mg/Kg, I was told it is actually 0.5 Mg/Kg ?!?!
Vitamin D - bag says 2,500 Min. IU/Kg, I was told it is actually 1,200 IU/Kg

I appreciate all of the comments! It’s really helping me to understand how the feed manufacturers operate and how to interpret the nutrition information provided.

[twinmommy]

Oh and I did get a response from Buckeye!

“The National Research Council’s Nutrient Requirements of Horses (2007) does not currently provide a specific daily chromium intake recommendation. Because of the minute amount of chromium present in our feeds, we do not regularly determine the amount present in our products.”

[JB]

@twinmommy

Well I went back and looked. The bag tag didn’t show very much information at all, so I called to ask about all the missing Vitamins & Minerals (Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, Iron, Manganese). Some of the items aren’t a big deal, the bag tag shows a minimum amount and the actual amount is slightly higher, but the ones that were not as advertised are below.

Added Selenium - bag says 0.3 Mg/Kg, I was told it is actually 0.5 Mg/Kg ?!?!
Vitamin D - bag says 2,500 Min. IU/Kg, I was told it is actually 1,200 IU/Kg

I don’t mind variances, even relatively big under-delivering ones, for Vitamin D, since that’s really not necessary for the majority of horses, as long as they’re spending a bit of time outside.

Selenium - .3ppm vs .5ppm is the difference between 0.68mg and 1.136mg in a 5lb serving, so a difference of about .45mg in 5lb.

Whether that’s a problem would really depend on the situation, and not likely to be an issue for most horses in most areas of the country, but it is a bit concerning that they are under-reporting this one by almost 50%. Who was that?

[TCA_Arabians]

Can someone explain to me why I pay a surcharge to remove Chromium 6 from our water? I’m assuming that too much Chromium is not good for humans.

[JB]

@TCA Arabians

Can someone explain to me why I pay a surcharge to remove Chromium 6 from our water? I’m assuming that too much Chromium is not good for humans.

Because it’s Chromium 6 isn’t good for you
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/materials/hexavalent_chromium_508.pdf
“Trivalent chromium is often referred to as chromium (III) and is proposed to be an essential nutrient for the body. Hexavalent chromium, or chromium (VI), is generally produced by industrial processes.”

Chromium isn’t chromium.

[MissAriel]

@twinmommy

If there is Chromium in them, why is the amount not listed? I contacted Buckeye to ask how much Chromium is in these feeds and they confirmed that there isn’t any.

I don’t understand, if there is Chromium in these feeds, why is it not listed? Because yes, there is Chromium in some of the ingredients they use. I have sent another message to Buckeye asking them.

1. Because it is expensive to test for each and every different mineral in every batch
2. If they aren’t adding it, there may be very big fluctuations depending on the ingredients used and the variability in those ingredients. This is especially true for feeds that change ingredients to reach a fixed analysis of more common nutrients. They might not want to put GA of Chromium - 0.5-35 mg on the tag.