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Criteria for Adequacy and Safety of Trace Elements in Animal Nutrition¹

United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705

Abstract

Much of our present knowledge of trace element nutrition is derived from field observations in farm animals (Underwood, 1971). Nutritional imbalances of cobalt, copper, molybdenum, manganese, zinc, and selenium were well identified in these species, long before the recognitiion of such nutritional problems in man. This time interval may be related, among other factors, to the fact that the farm animal is exposed much more than man, to the influences of the geochemical environment. In fact, the farm animal serves as an effective buffer in the food chain, by reducing the impact of environmental factors on the consumer (Subcommittee on GERHD, 1974).

On the other hand, animals and man have in common the changing background of nutritional practices and preferences. The trend toward rations with a high degree of caloric density, containing relatively pure substances, is equally prevalent in animal and human nutrition, as is the increasing use of new, nonconventional feedstuffs and foods.

¹ Presented at 67th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science, University of Colorado, Ft. Collins, July 28, 1975, as part of a Symposium on Evaluating Mineral Concentrations in Animal Tissues. Sponsored by the Regulatory Agency Committee, A.S.A.S. with financial assistance under Contract No. 223-75-7014 from the Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

² Chairman, Nutrition Institute, Agricultural Research Service, ARS-East U.S.D.A., Beltsville, MD 20705.