Pet Nutrition Q & A: What's Up w/Ethoxyquin ?
I have heard that some pet foods contain ethoxyquin as a preservative. Isn't this also used in pesticides and rubber?
—Trish
It's true that ethoxyquin can be used as a pesticide and rubber hardener, Trish. However, it also has important antioxidant functions, and has been used as a preservative in pet foods for more than 35 years to protect fats, fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins from spoiling. Ethoxyquin has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is considered safe when added to pet foods at a maximum of 150 parts per million.
A 1982 literature study conducted by the FDA resulted in no evidence of cancer-causing properties in ethoxyquin. However, if you prefer not to serve your pet a food that contains this ingredient, there are many pet food products on the market you can switch to that contain natural antioxidants such as vitamin E, rosemary, and citric acid.
—Trish
It's true that ethoxyquin can be used as a pesticide and rubber hardener, Trish. However, it also has important antioxidant functions, and has been used as a preservative in pet foods for more than 35 years to protect fats, fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins from spoiling. Ethoxyquin has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is considered safe when added to pet foods at a maximum of 150 parts per million.
A 1982 literature study conducted by the FDA resulted in no evidence of cancer-causing properties in ethoxyquin. However, if you prefer not to serve your pet a food that contains this ingredient, there are many pet food products on the market you can switch to that contain natural antioxidants such as vitamin E, rosemary, and citric acid.
Labels: ASPCA, Pet Care, Pet Nutrition
posted by ASPCA at 9:14 AM PERMALINK
2 Comments:
There's some creepy stuff in the majority of pet foods so I make it a point to only few my cats human grade foods such as Merrick, Halo, Wellness, Evanger's, Addiction, or ZiwiPeak.
I would encourage all pet owners to read the Animal Protection Institute's updated document "Get the Facts: What's Really in Pet Food" at http://www.api4animals.org/downloads/pdf/PetFoodReport_05-07.pdf On page 8 of this document the use of ethoxyquin is discussed. It has been approved for human consumption as a spice preservative at 100 ppm and the Center for Veterinary Medicine has asked manufacturers of pet foods to reduce its level to 75 ppm. It has never been tested for safety in cats. Studies might find that gasoline is safely consumed in small amounts, say 5 ppm, but at the end of the day, would you? I would offer that our pets are much safer if we stick with completely safe preservatives such as Vitamins C and E. One of the lessons we should be learning from the recent pet food recall is that pet food manufacturers are a business, not a charity. As such, they exist to make money, not to ensure pet health or improve pet nutrition as their marketing tells us. Cheaper ingredients mean bigger profit and profit is what business is all about; those are the simple facts.
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