Mint Extract

The ASPCA lists mint among plants toxic to cats. Large amounts can cause vomiting and diarrhea, but the trace amounts in cat food do not cause a problem.

Mint extract is a concentrate made from mint leaves, used in small amounts in a few cat foods. FDA lists spearmint and peppermint among natural extractives with GRAS status for animal feed in 21 CFR 582.20. That listing is general and is not a cat study. If your cat has a medical condition, ask your veterinarian before choosing a food with concentrated plant extracts.

Source: ecfr.gov

Mint extract is added to freshen breath and give the food a mint smell. Extracts deliver the plant's aroma compounds in a small amount. We found no controlled study showing that mint extract in dry cat food changes breath odor in cats.

Not exactly. An extract can be made in several ways and is usually less concentrated than a pure essential oil. The Merck Veterinary Manual notes that cats lack enough of an enzyme called glucuronyl transferase, which makes them very sensitive to phenolic compounds found in some essential oils. Pet food uses extract at low levels.

Source: merckvetmanual.com

The page address uses spearmint extract while the ingredient name shown is mint extract, which is how labels word it. A label that says mint extract may not name the mint species, so the source plant can be spearmint or another mint.

Pettings gives mint extract 2 out of 5 and lists it as an herb or plant extract. It appears on 3 of the 149 dry cat foods we list. The page describes it as an ingredient added to cat food to freshen breath. Each food's page shows how it scores overall.