ETHOXYQUIN FREE DOG FOOD?

With today’s economic instability, it’s not unusual to see many dog breeders/owners looking to save money on the care of their animals without sacrificing quality. As little as a year and a half or two ago, many people were using the top dog food brands and paying exuberant money for it. The economy was thriving and people weren’t concerned about losing their jobs or their homes. Nothing was too good for their animals.

Well times have changed and for some the way they feed their dogs. People had to look at the prices of some of these high quality foods that ran $50 to over $60 for a 33 lb. bag. They were forced to look for a good quality dog food that still provided the nourishment that they demanded for their dogs. It proved to be a daunting task for some and many found that they had to sacrifice certain things in their dog foods that they had become used to before. Some people began mixing two dry foods together hoping to hold onto some of the quality of the “higher end” dog food.

Conscientious breeders were always concerned with the ingredients in their dog food. Then there were others who really didn’t know everything about the ingredients. And some dog food companies didn’t list certain things on their labels and it was perfectly legal. One of those things was an artificial preservative/pesticide known as ethoxyquin. It is used in some dog foods to preserve fish meal and help to prevent fats from becoming rancid. How some companies get away with saying we don’t use ethoxyquin in our food is because the place that they buy their fish from can use this product BEFORE it becomes an ingredient in the dog’s food. So the dog food company can just list the name of the fish in their ingredients. They don’t have to say that it was preserved before they bought it. I know this to be true as I called one of the dog manufacturers and they told me that they don’t use ethoxyquin in their products, and that was true. However, when I asked them if their fish was preserved with this pesticide she told me, she didn’t know what the fish companies did BEFORE they bought it.

Some authorities (breeders, DVM’s etc.) believe ethoxyquin is responsible for chronic degenerative diseases, allergies, dermatitis, congestive heart failure, kidney failure, live pathologies, tumors and cancer.

It remains a challenge for some of us who want to maintain a good quality food for our animals without paying a premium price for it. Is it true that we pay for what we get? But do we have to pay for additives that can prove harmful and in some cases deadly to our dogs? I researched this subject to write this review and was shocked by a letter that I read from a DVM who had very strong concerns about this preservative. You can find that letter by typing in the words on Google search “Ethoxyquin Preservative” without the quotation marks and it should pull right up for you.

Here is a list that I found that says that their foods are Ethoxyquin free. Obviously this list could have changed and there may be others that you can add to it. It was very hard to find brands that made this claim. This list comes from someone who compiled it. It did not come from the company websites. This is what I found: Canidae, Eagle Pack Holistic Select, Fling River Ranch, Fromm Four Star Nutritionals, Gold Nutritionals, Orijen, TLC Whole Life Dog Food and Wellness. A few of these foods I’m not familiar with, but the other ones I can say are all high end, expensive foods. I feed my dogs Eagle Pack holistic and have also tried Wellness and Wellness Core and Canidae dog biscuits. I am seriously considering mixing Diamond Naturals with the Eagle Pack Holistic because it is now over $51 for a 33 lb. bag! Is there no end to these escalating dog food prices?

So to Ethoxyquin or not to Ethoxyquin that is the question. Some of us are so concerned about what we’re feeding our dogs, and forget about the hundreds of preservatives we feed ourselves everyday. It makes one want to start farming and growing your own food again. Well.............maybe!

My rating: dog food without Ethoxyquin: (1), value of dog food (3)