Mineral utilisation by animals depends primarily on the minerals’ absorption from ingested feed, with the term “bioavailability” generally being used to describe both the absorption and the ultimate metabolic utilisation of nutrients. Dr Richard Murphy at Alltech’s European Bioscience Centre writes on how, in the last decade, the feed industry has experienced a fine-tuning in diet
formulation, not only to match the animal’s nutritional needs, but also to minimise pollution due to mineral excretion.