*3.1. Correlation Analysis*

The correlations between the nutrients are presented in Figure 2. Overall, correlations were mostly positive indicating frequent nutrient co-occurrences. Negative correlations occur when the increase in one nutrient results in the decrease of another nutrient. Most negative correlations were found between moisture and all other nutrients, except vitamin C (r = 0.25, *p* < 0.001). Animal protein, fatty acids, and cholesterol positively correlated with phosphorous, sodium, zinc, riboflavin, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid and vitamin D (*p* < 0.001). In contrast, animal protein, saturated fatty acids, mono-unsaturated fatty acids, and cholesterol, negatively correlated with total fibre and vitamin C (*p* ≤ 0.001). Vitamin E had the highest positive correlations with fatty acids (r = 0.46, r = 0.52, r = 0.67, *p* < 0.001) and vitamin D (r = 0.64, *p* < 0.001). Plant protein had the highest positive correlations with total fibre (r = 0.82, *p* < 0.001) and manganese (r = 0.67, *p* < 0.001). Plant protein and total fibre both negatively correlated with animal protein, cholesterol, and vitamin B12 (p < 0.001). Vitamin B12 and vitamin D exhibited similar patterns, both negatively correlating with plant protein, total fibre, and manganese (*p* < 0.001). Strong, positive correlations among the minerals and vitamins were also found. Iron, magnesium, and copper were connected by positive correlations (*p* < 0.001) as well as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin B6 (*p* < 0.001). Positive correlations were also evident between animal-derived micronutrients such as phosphorus, zinc, and pantothenic acid (*p* < 0.001).
