Hip and Joint Supplement for Dogs Ingredient Sodium Hyaluronate Gets China’s First Feed Standard
Executive Summary: China has approved its first group standard for feed-grade sodium hyaluronate, the functional ingredient best known to pet owners from the hip and joint supplement for dogs category. Standard T/SDFA 055—2026, led by Shandong Focus Freda Biotechnology with 21 organizations including Gambol Pet Group, Seek Pet Products and Mérieux NutriSciences, was published on September 14, 2026 and takes effect on October 1, 2026. It gives manufacturers, pet food makers and testing labs a unified technical basis for a widely used but previously unstandardized additive.
Key Facts
- Standard
- T/SDFA 055—2026 “Feed Additive — Sodium Hyaluronate”
- Issuer
- Shandong Feed Industry Association
- Country
- China
- Lead drafter
- Shandong Focus Freda Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
- Coalition
- 21 drafting organizations including Gambol Pet Group, Seek Pet Products, Jiangnan University, Mérieux NutriSciences
- Event
- Standard published 2026-09-14; effective 2026-10-01
- Location
- Shandong Province, China
- Source
- National group standard information platform (ttbz.org.cn)
What Happened
The Shandong Feed Industry Association approved and published T/SDFA 055—2026, “Feed Additive — Sodium Hyaluronate,” China’s first dedicated technical standard for feed-grade sodium hyaluronate. The national group standard information platform lists the standard as published on September 14, 2026, with an effectiveness date of October 1, 2026. Shandong Focus Freda Biotechnology, one of the country’s major hyaluronic acid producers, led the drafting, working with 21 organizations spanning regulators’ technical centers, pet food manufacturers, universities and testing companies.
The document specifies the molecular formula, relative molecular mass and structural formula of sodium hyaluronate, and sets technical requirements, inspection rules, labeling, packaging, transport, storage and shelf-life provisions, along with sampling and test methods. It applies to feed-additive sodium hyaluronate produced by fermentation using Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus from glucose, yeast extract and peptone feedstocks — the production route behind most commercial material.
Background
Sodium hyaluronate entered China’s feed system in 2018, when the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ Announcement No. 21 added it to the Feed Additive Catalogue for use in dog and cat feed. In the years since, the ingredient has spread through pet nutrition: it appears in joint formulas, skin and coat products, and functional treats. A hip and joint supplement for dogs commonly lists sodium hyaluronate alongside glucosamine and chondroitin, and oral gels and kibble coatings increasingly carry it too.
What the sector lacked was a shared yardstick. Without a unified standard, manufacturers, buyers and labs each judged material by their own methods, which produced familiar frictions: purchase-lot disputes, third-party test results that did not agree, and compliance questions in formulation. Drafting began in 2025, and the process ran through project initiation, market research, sample collection, experimental verification and data evaluation before expert review.
Industry Context
The standard lands amid a broader professionalization of functional pet nutrition in China. Functional additives — from cat probiotics to omega-3 powders and the multivitamin segment that includes every cat multivitamin product on the shelf — have turned ingredient traceability into a purchasing criterion for brands and platforms alike. A published, testable standard converts a marketing claim into a procurement specification, which is what large buyers and e-commerce quality programs need before they can reference an ingredient in their own rules.
Shandong is a logical origin. The province is both a pet food manufacturing hub — home to co-drafters Gambol Pet Group and Seek Pet Products — and a center of hyaluronic acid raw-material production led by Focus Freda. Pairing the two in one drafting coalition means the standard was written with the actual buyer-seller interface in view rather than in a laboratory vacuum.
Market & Business Impact
For upstream producers, the standard defines the production and quality-control reference their customers can now cite in contracts. For pet food companies, it reduces the communication and testing costs that come from every supplier and lab using different methods — incoming inspection, raw material acceptance and formulation design all get a common document to point at. For testing organizations, it provides unified inspection and conformity-assessment methods, which is the prerequisite for credible certification.
One nuance matters for compliance teams: T/SDFA 055—2026 is a group standard, so it is voluntary in itself. Its force comes from adoption — procurement contracts, supplier audits and platform quality programs that choose to reference it. That is also why Focus Freda’s next steps include standard promotion, customer interpretation and application-data collection with upstream and downstream partners, universities and testing bodies, feeding revisions that could eventually lift the document toward industry or national standard status.
Companies & Brands Involved
Shandong Focus Freda Biotechnology led the drafting. The 21-organization coalition includes the Shandong Provincial Animal Product Quality and Safety Center, the Qufu Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Development Center, Dezhou Product Quality and Standards Metrology Research Institute, Jining Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center, Shandong Seek Pet Products Co., Ltd. (Shuake), Gambol Pet Group Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Jichong Biotechnology, Petty Zhichuang (Hangzhou) Pet Technology, Jiangsu Yabo Animal Health Technology, Bausch & Lomb Freda Pharmaceutical (Shandong), Mérieux NutriSciences (Qingdao), Jiangnan University and others. Company profiles for many of the participants are indexed in the GPI company directory.
Data & Evidence
Key dates from the national group standard information platform: project initiation January 4, 2026; public comment period May 1 to June 15, 2026; release date September 1, 2026; publication on the platform September 14, 2026; effective date October 1, 2026. The standard carries no patent information. Its scope covers technical requirements, inspection rules, labeling, packaging, transport, storage and shelf life for fermentation-derived feed-additive sodium hyaluronate. Primary source: ttbz.org.cn standard record T/SDFA 055—2026, cross-confirmed by Focus Freda group announcements on September 17, 2026 and by the company’s English-language release.
What This Means for the Pet Industry
The pattern here is bigger than one ingredient. China’s pet nutrition sector is converting its popular functional ingredients into written, testable standards one by one, starting with prescription diets earlier this year and now sodium hyaluronate. For importers and brand owners sourcing Chinese material, the practical move is to add T/SDFA 055—2026 compliance to supplier questionnaires from October 1 onward — it is the cheapest due-diligence upgrade available, because the drafting coalition already includes the labs you would otherwise pay to replicate. Expect the same playbook for collagen peptides, taurine and other functional additives as the catalogue professionalizes.
Key Takeaways
- China published T/SDFA 055—2026, its first group standard for feed-additive sodium hyaluronate, on September 14, 2026, with effect from October 1, 2026.
- Shandong Focus Freda led a 21-organization coalition that includes Gambol Pet Group, Seek Pet Products, Jiangnan University and Mérieux NutriSciences.
- The standard sets technical requirements, inspection rules, labeling, packaging, transport, storage and shelf-life provisions plus sampling and test methods.
- As a group standard it is voluntary in itself; its effect comes from adoption in procurement contracts, supplier audits and platform quality programs.
- The document marks another step in China’s conversion of functional pet nutrition ingredients into testable, procurement-ready specifications.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is T/SDFA 055—2026?
It is China’s first group standard for feed-additive sodium hyaluronate, issued by the Shandong Feed Industry Association and led by Focus Freda with 21 co-drafting organizations.
When does the standard take effect?
It was published on September 14, 2026, and takes effect on October 1, 2026.
Why was a sodium hyaluronate standard needed?
The ingredient was approved for dog and cat feed in 2018, but no unified standard existed, so producers, buyers and labs lacked a consistent basis for quality control, testing and conformity assessment.
Is the standard mandatory?
No. As a group standard it is voluntary in itself; it becomes binding when referenced in procurement contracts or platform quality requirements.
Why does it matter for pet food brands outside China?
Many international brands source Chinese hyaluronic acid material. The standard gives them a written, testable reference to demand from suppliers, lowering verification costs.
Sources
- Primary — National Group Standard Information Platform (ttbz.org.cn), T/SDFA 055—2026 Feed Additive — Sodium Hyaluronate, published 2026-09-14, https://www.ttbz.org.cn/standardDetail/04d661eaa7b344188eef558a6b447147.html
- Secondary — Focus Freda Group announcement via Sina, September 17, 2026, https://k.sina.com.cn/article_5953740931_162dee08306703z54k.html
- Secondary — Focuschem (Focus Freda) English-language release, “Focusfreda Leads Feed-Additive Sodium Hyaluronate Standard,” September 2026, https://www.focuschem.com/en/news/focusfreda-feed-additive-sodium-hyaluronate-standard-2026
