Ethoxyquin is an ugly word in my book; it’s even uglier because of what some pet food companies are telling pet owners about ‘e’. Don’t believe everything pet food tells you.
Ethoxyquin is a chemical preservative linked to serious disease. I have very personal negative feelings about this chemical because it killed my dog 18 years ago; my very wise veterinarian back then educated me that my Samantha’s (Sam) bone cancer was more than likely caused by this chemical. I will never forget the heartache when he told me, I will never forget what the pet food company (at the time the leading U.S. pet food) told me either. My veterinarian educated me that ‘e’ was commonly used to extend the shelf life of a pet food; the pet food company told me the shelf life of this highly popular dog food was 25 years! No kidding. My dog died at 8 years old; but her food would stay fresh for 17 more years thanks to ‘e’.
Developed by Monsanto, ethoxyquin is rarely used/allowed in human foods today. Some spices are allowed by the FDA to be preserved with ethoxyquin. Sadly, the chemical is still used in some pet treats and to preserve fish meal ingredients in some pet foods. If ‘e’ or any other preservative is used by a supplier of ingredients to a pet food, ‘e’ will not be listed on your pet food label. The only way to know is to call the pet food manufacturer and ask; and hope to receive a truthful answer. Thus the problem.
After the first of a series of ‘e’ articles was published on TruthaboutPetFood.com, the varied responses from pet food came rolling in from pet owners. ‘Varied responses’ from pet food or perhaps pet food shills remains an issue still today, eight months after the original article was published.
The following was recently sent to me, this was posted in a pet forum by the pet owner the information was told to (name of pet food removed…three guesses, first two don’t count which pet food manufacturer it was)…
“I just spent quite some time on the phone with XXXXXXX – the pet food I use, and the customer rep was quite knowledgeable about the ethoxyquin issue:
Basically, she has the FDA 2010 guidelines right in front of her and ethoxyquin is still the ONLY FDA approved preservative for fish meal being supplied to the US. She says Natorox is approved in Canada but not in the US. XXXXXXX has been trying to get around this for some time because they would like to eliminate ethoxyquin from their food altogether and they have not had any luck getting FDA to approve allowing a supplier to provide fish meal preserved with Naturox as of this time. They are still trying.
Their suggestion in the meantime was that there are several formulas that do not have fish in the ingredients.
She was so straightforward with me on this issue that I have to believe her on the FDA approvals, and perhaps the person writing about the ethoxyquin was mis-informed about the FDA approval of Naturox.”
Ok…just because a Customer Service Representative of a pet food company is nice, doesn’t mean they are giving you the whole story or being honest. This pet owner doesn’t have to believe me – she can spend a few minutes doing some research and learn the truth for herself.
This pet food company just bold faced lied to this pet owner.
Here are two links that explain the regulations:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=ff611531eee65502fb5fcbd139c71674&rgn=div8&view=text&node=46:5.0.1.1.4.4.6.2&idno=46
The above web page is the only page that many pet food companies reference; this page does state that ‘e’ is required to be used as fish meal preservative. But…there is more to the story…the following link gives fish meal suppliers another option to using ethoxyquin…
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=ff611531eee65502fb5fcbd139c71674&rgn=div8&view=text&node=46:5.0.1.1.4.1.6.3&idno=46
The above web page explains the Federal regulation that allows fish meal suppliers to use a safer preservative.
Naturox, manufactured by Kemin Industries, is already approved by U. S. Federal regulations, no additional permit or application is needed (I would assume that it is as well approved for use in Canada, but I am certain it is approved in the U.S. right now). Any fish meal supplier can purchase Naturox, receive proper instruction from Kemin Industries on use, application, and storage; there is no shortage of Naturox (another popular excuse heard from pet food – a shortage of naturally preserved meal). Any pet food manufacturer can insist from their supplier the meal to be preserved with Naturox (or they can continue using ‘e’ and lie to their customers).
Again, Naturox is an approved natural preservative alternative to ethoxyquin by U.S. Federal Regulations. This pet food company is telling customers they have no other option…well, then how can so many other pet food companies – made and sold in the U.S. – be using Naturox preserved fish meal ingredients? Others use Naturox because it IS approved for use in the U.S. and they don’t wish to feed their customers pets ‘e’.
Any pet food company can use ‘e’ preserved fish meal if they want, but if you do, don’t mislead (lie to) your customers. The truth does come out; we are watching you.
If you want to learn more…below are links to various articles on TruthaboutPetFood.com on ‘e’…
Risk Ingredients Not LIsted on Pet Food Labels
https://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/risk-ingredients-not-listed-on-pet-food-labels.html
More Pet Food Replies to Ethoxyquin in Fish Meal Question
https://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/more-pet-food-replies-to-ethoxyquin-in-fish-meal-question.html
More on Ethoxyquin Preserved Fish Meals
https://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/more-on-ethoxyquin-preserved-fish-meals.html
Ethoxyquin Carcinogenictoxic Food Preservative In Pet Foods A Letter to the FDA
https://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/ethoxyquin-carcinogenictoxic-food-preservative-in-pet-foods-a-letter-to-the-fda.html
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
PetsumerReport.com
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