Depending on the process and on other mineral sources used, different types of inorganic feed phosphates can be produced. The majority of the inorganic feed phosphates used in the EU and worldwide are calcium phosphates in different forms (mono-, di- and monodi-calcium phosphates) but also magnesium phosphates, sodium phosphates and even ammonium phosphates are used in animal nutrition. The end-product quality depends on the treatment and production process. Due to different chemical compositions of the different feed phosphate sources, large differences do exist in their phosphorus availability for the different animal species. However phosphate from the same source, produced by the same process, using the same raw materials, show consistent phosphorus availability, which can be measured in biological assays.
