- Help

Register of Allowable Nutrients with Known Therapeutic Uses in Exempt Oral Nutritional Compounds

There are a growing number of substances that are found in the natural diets of some animals that are being used as nutritional supplements in several species. The substances are known to have pharmacological and therapeutic actions that are not purely the result of the supply of nutrients. Such substances must be registered before they can be imported, manufactured, marketed or sold for use as veterinary medicines.

It is recognised that some of these substances can legitimately be included by manufacturers in finished feeds for certain species to bring levels up to those that are expected to be present in the natural diet, and that such diets may qualify for exemption from the requirement of registration as an oral nutritional compound. *

The following register lists the substances to which this applies. It should be noted that when the listed substances are included in supplements and not finished feeds, the provisions of this register do not apply and such supplements require registration.

Deer velvet and shark cartilage are not considered to be substances that would be included in the normal diet of any species as nutrients and all veterinary medicines containing them require registration.

* Exempt oral nutritional compounds must comply with the conditions of Schedule 4 of the ACVM Regulations 2001

SUBSTANCE	SPECIES	MAXIMUM INCLUSION	CONDITIONS
Glucosamine	Cats, dogs	1300 mg/kg dry weight food, combined natural and supplemental sources.¹	No therapeutic or pharmacological claims can be attributed to the glucosamine on the label. Reference can be made to the presence of the substance in the feed on the label.
Chondroitin sulphate	Cats, dogs	125 mg/kg dry weight food, combined natural and supplemental sources.²	No therapeutic or pharmacological claims can be attributed to the chondroitin on the label. Reference can be made to the presence of the substance in the feed on the label.
Green Lipped Mussel powder.	Cats, dogs	2.5 g/kg dry weight food.	No therapeutic or pharmacological claims can be attributed to the mussel powder or its individual constituents on the label. Reference can be made to the presence of the substance in the feed on the label.
Carnitine	Cats	≤ 1000 mg/kg dry weight food, combined natural and supplemental sources.	No therapeutic or pharmacological claims can be attributed to the carnitine on the label. Reference can be made to the presence of the substance in the feed on the label.
Carnitine	Dogs	≤ 750 mg/kg dry weight food, combined natural and supplemental sources.	No therapeutic or pharmacological claims can be attributed to the carnitine on the label. Reference can be made to the presence of the substance in the feed on the label.
Creatine	Cats and dogs	Combined natural and supplemental sources not to provide more than 0.4mg creatine/kg bwgt/day.	No therapeutic or pharmacological claims can be attributed to the creatine on the label. Reference can be made to the presence of the substance in the feed on the label.

Version 3: March 2009

¹ Approved level increased from 500mg/kgDM March 2009.

² Approved level increased from 50mg/kgDM March 2005.

All information on this website is subject to a disclaimer.

Contact for enquiries

New Zealand Food Safety Authority
68-86 Jervois Quay
PO Box 2835
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND

Phone: +64 4 894 2500
Fax: +64 4 894 2501

Contact NZFSA about this page