Ethoxyguin in fish meal in dog food, how concerned are you? - Page 1

If you use a dog food that has fish meal as one of minor very small ingredient, say between liver flavor and flaxseed, how concerned should you be, if you know the rest of the food does not otherwise has ethoxyguin added? Fish meal unless otherwise stated should have ethoxyguin.

Where does the "safe" lever of 75 ppm (I believe) come from?

Some one states that this stuff is in all feed stock, and therefore chicken we eat, unless organic, will also have detectable amounts of this stuff especially the liver. Even our body tissue has it.

Is concern about the small amount of ethoxyguin in fish meal in dog food justified?

I don't like it in my dog food, it's just not worth the risk, we don't know if even a little bit has an adverse affect.  Some companies even put these chemicals in puppy formula...doesn't seem too healthy for a newborn pup to me.  Here is a part from my website on chemical preservatives.

BHA/BHT are chemicals used to preserve the lifespan of dog food, it has been linked to immune deficiency syndrome, spleen, stomach and liver cancer, thyroid problems, certain types of cancer, liver disease, dry skin, allergies tumors and among many other things. A recent study done by the Department of Pathology, Nagoya City University Medical School, Japan, noted that BHA and other such antioxidants, particularly propyl gallate and ethoxyquin, showed addictive in inducing stomach hyperplasia and cytotoxicity.

BHA enhanced stomach and urinary bladder carcinogenesis. Causes squamous-cell carcinomas in stomachs. (Cancers of this type are among the most lethal and fastest acting, the swiftest effects being seen among animals with light colored fur.)

BHT promoted urinary bladder carcinogenesis. Could be a promoter of thyroid carcinogenesis. Studies have noted that BHA and other antioxidants, particularly Propyl Gallate and ethoxyquin, showed additional effects in inducing stomach hyperplasia and cytotoxicity.

Propyl Gallate Research has found the additive to be safe but recent studies have linked propyl gallate with a special group of hormone-like compounds known as xenoestrogens. Xenoestrogens have the potential to adversely affect reproductive health. In humans, they have the ability to turn a normal breast cell into a cancer cell. Propyl gallate can also affect a developing fetus… as well as decrease the sperm count in males.

Ethoxyquin is registered under the FDA as a pesticide, many so called premium brands of kibble contain these preservatives as an alternative to mixed tocopherols (Vitamin E) Dog food companies are also not required to list these chemicals in their ingredients list so it is best to contact them via e-mail and ask them for a written statement exclaiming that they do not use chemical preservatives in their formulas.

According to Dr. Wendell Belfield, DVM, practicing veterinarian for some 26 years, both BHA and BHT are known to cause liver and kidney dysfunction and are banned in some European countries. He adds that ethoxyquin is suspected of causing cancer and that propylene glycol (a pet food ingredient closely related to anti-freeze) causes destruction of red blood cells.

There are enough dog foods out there that don't use ethoxyquin where I don't have to feel obligated to use one that does. Even if there are only 'safe levels' of it, why give my dog something I don't want it to have or that it doesn't necessarily need? The way I see it, having worked at a pet food supply store: there are enough dog foods saturating the market where I don't have to settle for one single result, be it price, ingredients, stool quality, skin and coat quality that I don't like. Of course, I may only feel this way because I have found a few foods that have given me the results that I do want. But in ethoxyquin, there's more risk even in 'safe' levels than there is in avoiding it where I can.

How sure are you that your brand of dog food does not have ethoxyguin.

http://www.avianweb.com/ethoxyquin.htm

This links says that Iams uses it.

I have not seen or used any brand that has ethoxyguin listed in the ingredient.

If I read correctly, there are brands that use E deliberately.

My brand uses vitamin E as the MAIN preservative, but it contains a small amounts of fish meal, which is likely preserved with E.

Also, chicken for human consumption, unless organic, has E, so "chicken meal"  or even "chicken" will have some E.

What to do?

I am not sure if the small amount of E in fish meal, may be 1% fish meal by weight of the dog food, is significantly greater than the E that is bound to be found in chicken, even for human consumption.

How much E is found in fish meal?

 "because it is used as a preservative in livestock feed, the following residue allowances in human consumed animal products as follows: 5 ppm in or on the uncooked fat of meat from animals except poultry; 3 ppm in or on the uncooked liver and fat of poultry, 0.5 ppm in or on the uncooked muscle meat of animals, 0.5 ppm in poultry eggs, and zero in milk."

So only eggs have zero E.

up to 3ppm E in chicken fat.

Most dog food has chicken fat as a main ingredient.

and if we didn't already have enough to worry about..............
much of the menhaden fish meal comes from the gulf area.  now they are saying that the oil spill
still lingers and contaminates the fish and seafood coming from the gulf. 
pjp