Calcium and phosphorus sources
Also appears on labels as: calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate, mono and dicalcium phosphate, bone phosphate, sodium carbonate
Mineral salts supplying the two structural minerals of bone.
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- Where it comes from
- Mined limestone and phosphate rock, food-grade purified.
- Why it's in the product
- Bone, teeth, and the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio that every complete diet has to hit.
- Safety and toxicity
- Safe when formulated. Excess calcium is genuinely harmful in one specific case: large-breed puppies, where over-supplementation is a documented cause of developmental orthopedic disease. That is an argument for feeding a food formulated for large-breed growth, not for avoiding this ingredient.
- Interactions and who should be careful
- Calcium binds some medications and reduces phosphorus absorption, which is used deliberately in kidney diets.
General reference, not veterinary advice. Dose, breed, and existing conditions change the answer, so talk to your vet before changing what your pet eats. Think we got this wrong? Tell us and we log it publicly.
Found in 86 scored products
Lowest scores first. Its presence here is not what drove those scores.
62 more scored products list this ingredient. Showing the 24 lowest-scoring.