Does Your Dog Food contain ETHOXYQUIN?

[Freedom]

Came across this in my continuing research on foods to use.

Ethoxyquin is used as a preservative in the protein component of foods, especially fish and fish meal. It has not nutrition component. There is a years long debate as to whether it is causing major, life shortening illness in dogs. No study has researched the effect of long term exposure to this.

The problem is the labeling. If the dog food manufacturer adds the Ethoxyquin, then it must be listed. However, if the supplier of the protein adds it, then it does NOT have to be listed!

So the only way to know if it is in the food seems to be . . . if the company comes right out and SAYS their brand is ethoxyquin free.

Last September or so, I switched to Taste of the Wild kibble. Their foods contain this chemical. So I will be switching again.

There ARE quite a few companies that do not use it and do not buy from suppliers that use it. Here are foods which are E-free:
Orijen, Wellness, Solid Gold, Canidae, Nature's Variety, California Natural, Innova, Natural Balance, Fromm, Flint River Ranch, Pinnacle, Eagle Pack, Chicken Soup, Innova, California Natural, and Wysong and a few others.

Here is the link to one article on ethoxyquin. This one is rather short, and concise, which is why I choose to use this link:
http://www.wellpet.org/nutrition/ethoxyquin2.htm


This is a good page to bookmark for future use. Covers ingredients to avoid (& there are many):

The Dog Food Project - Ingredients to avoid
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

[MonicanHonda]

Thanks for the good post!

Oh, and I did hear about TOTW getting rid of ethoxyquin sometime this summer... I will look around for some more information.

[dab_20]

I just switched to California Natural and Springen is fed Evo (not on your list but I'm pretty sure it doesn't contain that). Good info though!! Thanks!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks for the info. I'm assuming it's the same for cat food. I currently feed my cats Innova Evo but I'm also feeding them a lot of Nature's Variety Instinct which I'm going to switch over to instead of the Evo since P & G has now taken over all Natura Foods.:( I just don't trust P & G and I've read that they can even change the ingredients without changing the food bag labels so you won't even know.:(

My RB Starr was on the Hills ZD prescription diet for a while which contained both ethoxyquin and BHA or BTA. I can't remember now. I'm so glad that he hated it and that it didn't work for him because I knew that this stuff was poison.:( So many of the veterinary prescription diets contain these horrible preservatives. I just don't understand why they do this.:( They certainly aren't cheap foods to buy and they're supposed to help make our sick animals healthy.:(

[elizabethann]

Thanks for the information.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I've been shopping at Pet Food Express for quiet a while now and the employees are all very well trained in animal nutrition. I was there last night and they sell "Taste Of The Wild" food there. I told the lady that I just found out that it contains ethoxyquin and she said that all food that contains any kind of fish meal in it will contain this. With that being said if any pet food has herring meal, whitefish meal etc. like Innova Evo or even Nature's Variety does there will be some of this in it. She said something about it being an import or export law that it has to contain it and even if the company tries to take it out there will always be traces of it left in the food.

My Storm has always been allergic to fish products so I've been trying to avoid foods that contain a lot of that in them. Unfortunately the grain free diets always have some,herring meal, in them so I can't avoid it entirely. The lady said that my Storm may actually be allergic to the ethoxyquin and not the fish.

[wolfsoul]

I've been shopping at Pet Food Express for quiet a while now and the employees are all very well trained in animal nutrition. I was there last night and they sell "Taste Of The Wild" food there. I told the lady that I just found out that it contains ethoxyquin and she said that all food that contains any kind of fish meal in it will contain this. With that being said if any pet food has herring meal, whitefish meal etc. like Innova Evo or even Nature's Variety does there will be some of this in it. She said something about it being an import or export law that it has to contain it and even if the company tries to take it out there will always be traces of it left in the food.

My Storm has always been allergic to fish products so I've been trying to avoid foods that contain a lot of that in them. Unfortunately the grain free diets always have some,herring meal, in them so I can't avoid it entirely. The lady said that my Storm may actually be allergic to the ethoxyquin and not the fish.

TOTW has actually recently decided to use fish that is not preserved with ethoxyquin; So the food is now safe. :)
You're right, not many grain free foods don't have fish. Visa tends to go bald around the eyes if fed a food with fish, which tells me she doesn't do well on it.. She is on California Natural Lamb and Rice, and they just recently came out with a Venison formula that is grain free AND has no fish -- but now that P&G has bought the food I'm not sure if I can stick with it.. I'll have to see if they keep the quality that Natura did.
Tandem currently eats Acana Sport & Agility, but I think he was doing better on the Innova EVO RM so I might go back to that. The Acana is very expensive anyways.

[Freedom]

I don't do nearly as much research on the cat side; I just switch them to the brand I get for the dogs.

Just ordered some Flint River Ranch today. Sugar has been an itchy mess since using TOTW. It could be the ethoxyquin, but it may also be the protein content. TOTW is 40% protein, and Flint River is 24%. Yes, it means I am going back to a food with grain in it; all the grain free are quite high in protein. Bichons are prone to crystals, and high protein diets contribute to that.

Gosh, selecting a food for your pets is quite complicated.

[Shelteez2]

I feed a raw prey model diet, so no, my dog's food does not contain ethoxyquin.

[MonicanHonda]

Not all fish has to be preserved in ethoxyquin. I believe a lot of the better brands are now using mixed tocopherols for preservation. And I do believe TOTW is now safe also... I tried looking information up on it... but can't find much. I'll have to peruse my other forum I'm on for information.

Speaking of fish, we are on a prey model diet too and I was blessed with fish guts all over my welcome mat the other day. Lol Delta is not a big fan of fishies. :) She doesn't mind catfish too much. haha

[Freedom]

Speaking of fish, we are on a prey model diet too and I was blessed with fish guts all over my welcome mat the other day. Lol Delta is not a big fan of fishies. :) She doesn't mind catfish too much. haha

There are limits to what I will do, he he heee. Sorry you had to receive that "gift."

The foods that are E-free clearly state this on their packaging, and it is easy to find on their web site.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I was just looking at the "Nature's Variety" website and they have an area called ingredient glossary where you can look up the different ingredients and learn more about it. This is what it said for herring meal:
Herring Meal
Herring meal is the clean, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole herring or herring cuttings. Herring are small oily fish much like sardines that inhabit shallow temperate waters in the Atlantic. They are sustainably caught and processed fresh. Our high-quality herring meal is an excellent source of Omega-3 fatty acids and is naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols.

This is great to know that their fish isn't preserved with ethoxyquin. I still haven't found this label on the bags of dry food though.


On the "Taste Of The Wild" website they also have an area where you can learn more about their ingredients.
Ocean Fish Meal:
A high quality source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids. The omega-3 fatty acids from marine sources, EPA and DHA, provide nutrition for optimal skin and coat health as well as excellent overall health.

It doesn't let us know what's it's preserved with.

[Freedom]

It doesn't let us know what's it's preserved with.

Exactly!

Seems rather sneaky, doesn't it? But truly it is the law which is written incorrectly.

[MonicanHonda]

Good news, I believe TOTW has gone ethoxyquin free! They were supposed to do it in June and a friend of mine had ordered it and they said it was not available for a bit because they stopped production for five days. Here is the chat leading me to believe they have gone ethoxyquin free...

I'm assuming that they've made the switch to ethoxyquin-free fish meal, since our last order of TOTW Pac Stream did not come in and the distributor said that it was because TOTW stopped production for 5 days.
Can anybody confirm this?

I know it was in the plans for this summer. I emailed the company about it a few months ago, and she said they were planning on making the switch in June, I thought, though it *could* have been pushed back. I am pretty positive they did switch, though.

Did the prices go up?

Prices have gone up $5 here. Which, honestly isn't that bad and I'm definitely willing to pay $5 more for icky-free fish

Yeah that is great. It's been a few weeks since I bought any. 15 pounds lasts Allee and Bama a good while.

SO, if you want to continue feeding this or add it to your rotation, I would say feel free to e-mail company and confirm. :)

[Freedom]

Thanks, Monica!