Blood and blood products. Sometimes we simply have to stop and think… are these dog food ingredients for real?

Actually, they are. On pet food labels it’s not unusual to find items like…

• Animal plasma
• Blood meal
• Dried blood

In dog food, blood products can be controversial.

Although some argue blood is a natural part of a dog’s ancestral diet, many are disturbed to find these items listed on a label.

By-Product of the Meat Packing Industry

You see, although some companies would like you to believe blood meal is a high quality “protein booster”… this pet food ingredient is actually considered a by-product of slaughterhouse waste.

What’s worse, you never know from where this waste comes. Is it horse? Or cow? Or maybe the blood from a diseased or dying farm animal?

Because blood products can carry BSE (mad cow disease), the FDA has banned their use in making feed for livestock.

However, so long as these products come from pork (or horses), blood can still be used to make cattle feed… and dog food.¹

Thankfully, no cases of BSE have ever been reported in dogs.

However, cats are susceptible to their own version of the disease… a deadly disease known as FSE.²

And that’s what worries opponents. If blood can spread mad cow disease, what other diseases could these products also carry?

Blood Meal
Feeding Dogs… or Plants?

The truth is, blood meal is more commonly used as a fertilizer to feed crops. Not dogs.

Just the same, some dog food companies insist animal plasma and blood meal add legitimate nutrition to a properly designed dog food.

In any case, even though they’re most likely safe…

Blood products are certainly controversial enough to qualify them for inclusion on the Dog Food Advisor’s list of Red Flag Ingredients.

Some say it’s safe.  Yet others believe the dog food preservative… propyl gallate… may be responsible for causing a number of serious health problems.

That’s because of the chemical’s unusual ability to mimic the negative effects of the female hormone… estrogen.

Although research has found the additive to be safe… recent studies have linked propyl gallate with a special group of hormone-like compounds known as xenoestrogens (zee-no-es’-tro-jenz).

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.

Any way you look at it… feeding a dog the same chemical additive… not just occasionally… but with every meal… certainly favors the creation of problems associated with long term exposure to any toxic substance.

My recommendation?  Whenever you spot propyl gallate on a dog food label… step aside.  Look for a safer naturally-preserved product.

Propylene glycol is a controversial additive used to help preserve the moisture content in many dog foods.

You may already recognize this chemical by its more “infamous” use… as a key ingredient in some newer automotive antifreezes.

No kidding… antifreeze.

Now, to be fair, propylene glycol is considerably safer (less toxic) than its far more dangerous cousin, ethylene glycol.

But here’s the problem… because of its proven ability to cause a serious type of blood disease… Heinz body anemia… propylene glycol has been banned by the FDA for use in cat food.

Now, get this… believe it or not, it can still be used to make dog food.

No matter how safe this stuff may seem, it’s the continuous, day-after-day feeding of this controversial chemical that worries me.

And if you love your dog as much as I love Bailey… that long term use should worry you, too.

So… buyer beware.  Avoid choosing any dog food that contains propylene glycol.  After all, why take the risk?

Butylated hydroxyanisole… better known as BHA… is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” (a cancer-causing agent)¹.

According to the National Institute of Health, BHA in the diet has been found to consistently produce certain types of tumors in laboratory animals².

Yet FDA regulations still permit its use as a fat preservative in food under the assumption it is “generally recognized as safe” in low doses³.

Here’s what concerns me… and why you might want to take notice yourself.  Dogs are a “captive” audience.  They have no choice but to eat what we put in front of them… the same commercial food… every day… sometimes twice a day… year after year.

It’s that cumulative exposure that worries me.  The additive effect of using any artificial preservative relentlessly… especially when it’s been proven to cause cancer.

Even though they may not remain as effective for quite so long, natural preservatives are considered to be much safer.

That’s why quality-oriented dog food companies avoid the use of these cheaper synthetic “shelf-life extenders” altogether… and why (for your dog’s sake) you should, too.

When you read (on a label) some fat or oil ingredient is “preserved with BHA”… step aside.  There’s probably a safer alternative dog food within easy reach.

Uh-oh.  Here we go again.  Another controversial dog food ingredient… TBHQ.

TBHQ is short for (don’t even try to say it) tertiary butylhydroquinone… a fat and oil preservative added to a dog food to increase its shelf life.

But that’s not all.

TBHQ is also used to stabilize certain explosive compounds… and to make varnishes, lacquers and resins¹.

Here’s the problem…

TBHQ has been known to produce pre-cancerous stomach tumors in laboratory animals… and it can cause damage to a cell’s DNA².  Further studies have found that prolonged exposure to TBHQ may lead to other types of cancer, too³.

Now, to be fair, one report even suggests TBHQ may actually prevent cancer⁴.

So, what should you believe?  Who’s telling the truth?

Well, I don’t know about you.  But feeding any dog the same artificial preservative… on a daily basis… certainly qualifies for what I would call “long term exposure”.

You know, there are plenty of safe “natural” preservatives out there.

That’s why I refuse to feed my dog, Bailey, any product containing TBHQ.  And until there’s conclusive proof that TBHQ is completely safe… I’d suggest protecting your dog from this controversial chemical, too.

Never forget… bad dog food sucks.  Spread the word.

BHT is the official abbreviation for a common dog food additive known as (gasp)… butylated hydroxytoluene.

The chemical is used in certain dog foods to prevent fats and oils from going bad too soon.

In other words, BHT can extend the shelf life of a fat-containing product.

But that’s not all it can do.

BHT can also be found in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, jet fuels, rubber, petroleum products, electrical transformer oil and embalming fluid.¹

Yes… embalming fluid!

Now, like so many other artificial preservatives, BHT is the subject of considerable controversy.

It seems the same properties which make BHT an effective preservative can also make it a suspect for causing cancerous tumors.²

Some evidence has suggested certain individuals may have difficulty breaking down the chemical in the liver… which is capable of causing notable behavioral changes.³

BHT has been banned as a preservative in food in the countries of Japan, Romania, Sweden and Australia.

You know… it just doesn’t make sense.  Why would so many dog food companies insist on using BHT when safer alternatives already exist?

For example, vitamins C or E can provide a completely natural way to extend the shelf life of fats in dog food.  As a matter of fact, many quality-oriented dog food companies already use these safer compounds as fat preservatives in their own products.

So, why take the risk?  Steer clear of any dog food that uses BHT in its products.

Remember… bad dog food sucks.  Pass it on.

There’s one dog food ingredient you certainly want to be suspicious of… a fat preservative known as ethoxyquin.

Ethoxyquin is not only used as a preservative in dog foods but… are you ready for this… it’s also used as a pesticide… and as a hardening agent in the manufacture of rubber.

Monsanto, the company that makes the chemical insists the additive is completely safe.

Yet ethoxyquin has been “implicated in birth defects, stillborn puppies, liver failure, infertility and cancer”.¹

Plus… it’s no longer legal for general use in human food (except in some spices).  Yet to this very day, ethoxyquin is still commonly found in many popular dog food brands.

The very idea any manufacturer would stubbornly choose to ignore the condemning evidence and use ethoxyquin when there might be a safer alternative out there defies logic.

Anyway, I don’t know about you, but if ethoxyquin isn’t safe for my kids, then it’s not safe for my dog either.

How We Rate Dog Foods Containing Ethoxyquin

Although ethoxyquin can be directly added to a dog food at the time of manufacture, this is rarely the case.

Unfortunately, it can also be added indirectly… as an unavoidable consequence of using fish meal as an ingredient in any dog food.

That’s because many fish meals do contain ethoxyquin.

In one study reported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the effects of ethoxyquin appear to be “dose-dependent”.²

In other words, lower amounts of the chemical may be associated with fewer health risks.

For this reason, we have elected to award no more than two stars to any dog food that contains ethoxyquin directly added by its manufacturer.

However, on a percentage basis, fish meals tend to contribute dramatically less ethoxyquin to the overall content of a dog food than when the preservative has been directly added to the mix.

Since fish meals positioned lower on an ingredients list tend to contribute less ethoxyquin to the finished dog food, we plan to adjust those ratings accordingly.

Please be aware that the Advisor checks for ethoxyquin only in its selected example… and not every product within a product line.

Our Advice

For healthy pets, a trace amount of ethoxyquin probably poses no serious threat. But animals with compromised immune systems or with genetic predispositions to cancer should probably avoid foods containing even a trace of the chemical.

Manufacturers frequently change their recipes. So, be sure to look for any evidence the product contains fish meal. That is, unless the company clearly states their fish meals are ethoxyquin-free.

Artificial preservatives represent some of the most dangerous ingredients in dog food.

Here’s why…

Since animal fats are a crucial part of every dog food, they’re also subject to going bad… to becoming rancid shortly after manufacture.

To extend the shelf life of any dog food, manufacturers nearly always add some sort of preservative to each product.

But here’s the problem…

Preservatives can be either natural… or artificial.

Natural preservatives are almost always made from certain variations of vitamins C or E.  You’ll see them printed on a dog food’s ingredients list usually using some form of the word “tocopherol”… or “ascorbate”.   Look for something like this…

“…chicken fat preserved with alpha-tocopherol”

What you mainly need to know here is that natural additives are usually considered very safe.

Forbidden in Cat Food… OK for Dogs?

But artificial additives, on the other hand, are another story.  They’ve earned a well-deserved reputation for adding a significant degree of risk and toxicity to any dog food.

Take, for example, the food moisture preservative, propylene glycol.  You may already recognize it for its more famous use… as the main ingredient in automotive anti-freeze.

No kidding… anti-freeze.

Now, get this… Because of its proven blood toxicity in cats, propylene glycol has been banned by the FDA for use in cat food.  Yet as hard as it is to believe, it’s still used as an artificial preservative in dog food.

Wow!

Dog Food Preservative… or Dangerous Pesticide?

Now, here’s another artificial preservative you should be on a constant vigilance for… the chemical additive… ethoxyquin.

Ethoxyquin is not only used as a dog food preservative but… are you ready for this… it’s also used as a pesticide… and as a hardening agent in the manufacture of synthetic rubber.

Ethoxyquin has been under investigation by the FDA for causing canine liver and kidney cancer.  And it’s no longer legal for use in human food.  Yet to this very day, it’s still commonly found in many popular dog food brands.

Pretty scary… don’t you think?

OK, here are two more chemical “bad guys” to watch out for…

• Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)
• Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)

The World Health Organization openly names both BHT and BHA as suspicious cancer-causing compounds.  Plus the State of California now identifies BHA as a probable “carcinogen”, too.

With their troubling reputations for causing such serious disease you’d think these two nasty preservatives would be intentionally shunned by the pet food industry.

But, guess what?

Sadly enough… to this very day, both BHA and BHT can be regularly found in many common retail dog foods.

Incredible!

What’s the Point?

All of this seems to boil down to one overriding fact.  It’s probably not a good idea to place much confidence in the word “natural” when used by itself… at least not as a “one-step” method for choosing dog food.

My strongest advice… and a better idea.  Simply avoid any dog food that contains artificial preservatives… no matter what.

OK, here’s a list of some of the more common chemical additives…

• Propylene glycol
• Ethoxyquin
• BHA
• BHT
• TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone)
• Propyl gallate

Simply avoiding these dangerous and unnecessary dog food preservatives may add years of good health to your pet’s life.

Click here to learn the truth about “natural” dog food.