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.
- Brigola, Sandra, “Pet Food – Our Pets Are Dying for It”, VonHapsburg Danes ↩
- USFDA Pet Food Labels, 3/2/2010 ↩
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Confused on your Ethoxyquin stance…I stumbled onto your site today and I do like what you’ve done…but this confuses me. You’ve got numerous foods made in the Diamond plants, and we know they don’t take a hard stance on Ethoxyquin.
How can they have such highly rated foods and yet this article says to stay clear ? I’m confused.
Here’s a quote froum your site: “There’s one dog food ingredient you definitely want to stay away from… a fat preservative known as ethoxyquin.”
How can you rate TOTW five stars and enthusiastically recommend it, when you are also saying to stay away from ethoxyquin? TOTW does contain ethoxyquin. I’m honestly curious, because my pups were doing great on TOTW’s Pacific Stream, and I hated to change their food, but with all the cautions out about ethoxyquin I felt changing was best for them.
Bonny,
Exactly what I was trying to say….Again, I say this with all due respect to Mike. I really like what he’s done here. But he seems to take a very hard stance on Ethoxyquin. Diamond knowingly uses the stuff…how can ANYTHING they make receive 4 and 5 stars.
I’ll shut up and wait for Mike to respond.
Hi Kevin and Bonny… I’ve been reading (with interest) all your comments regarding ethoxyquin. And I can understand the confusion. I believe there is a significant difference between ethoxyquin used in fish meals vs ethoxyquin being added directly to a final dog food product as a preservative. I’m in the process of collecting critical information regarding this important issue and I promise to report back to you (here) with my findings… very soon. How do you guys feel about ethoxyquin if two dog foods contained major differences in the chemical’s composition? By the way, thanks for this interesting discussion.
Mike,
I’d love to hear what you find…I’ve yet to find a company that doesn’t “claim” that the stuff is destroyed in the heat process…or that the amount in their food is such a trace amount that it would NEVER affect your Dog. Indeed, they all say this.
I would never know for certain if they are right…gads!…could you imagine the size study you would have to conduct to determine conclusively that they are correct? You would have to have the resources of a sizable University.
Heck, I’M Tempted by the Diamond brand foods. I don’t enjoy shelling out $2/lb. for Innova, Orijen or Evo…and now that this 4Health Brand has come out…I’m tempted again. But I just can’t do it. We are never going to get an absolute answer from anything made in a Diamond facility that we are safe completely from Ethoxyquin.
You know what I WISH they might consider? Just keep all the Fish Meal OUT of some select formula’s. Fine, you cannot guarantee NO Ethoxyquin?….ok, give us the option of no Fish Meal. Increase the Chicken, do whatever you need to do. Keep the darn Fish out.
Just my opinion.
thanks again for the site.
Hi Kevin… Thanks to your recent comments, I’ve re-written much of this post in an attempt to clarify the way we deal with ethoxyquin in our ratings. After reviewing my earlier version, I can see where it would cause so much confusion. And for that, I apologize.
Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find anything definitive regarding just how much ethoxyquin is safe and/or how much is really in a finished dog food. I spoke with Dr. Brookshire today at Diamond Pet and I found her very helpful. But she was still unable to forward the results of any tests that confirmed her claims that ethoxyquin content is reduced to only 2 ppm.
However, in her defense, I believe it’s all a matter of simple math. If the FDA limits ethoxyquin (EQ) content to 75 ppm in a finished product… then it stands to reason that the most dangerous situation would be applying that same limit on direct addition to a specific dog food as a preservative.
On the other hand, as I understand it, fish meals are also limited to the same 75 ppm when they sell the ingredient to the dog food manufacturers. That would mean a single ingredient would contribute dramatically less EQ to the overall product than with direct addition by the manufacturer.
Also, think about how very insignificant a contributor to EQ levels a fish meal would be when it is listed as ingredient number ten (as it is in 4Health Dog Food). What if that fish meal ingredient represented 3% of the pre-cooking weight of the entire product. That dog food would then be 97% fish meal-free! Assuming (a maximum reading) of 75 ppm, the fish meal would contribute only the very tiniest amount (2-3 ppm) of EQ to the overall dog food.
Hey… I’m not endorsing the use of EQ. No, definitely not. But I am trying to allay some of the hysteria about the chemical. Fish meal is an extremely common dog food ingredient… even in many decent quality dog foods.
By the way, who’s to say 4Health wouldn’t really be more accurate at three stars? But based on the big picture, we still feel four stars is appropriate. Sometimes, these foods are simply on the “borderline”.
Thanks for calling this EQ rating confusion to my attention. Hope this helps.
Thanks for giving use a place to help our dogs and friends !!
thanks Mike. I appreciate the work you did on this….it’s tough….we’re reading things from companies that killed a bunch of our beloved pets a few years ago. Credibility?…you know what I mean. I read your touching story.
We pay a significant incremental difference in Orijen or Evo vs. anything made in a Diamond plant. This got me to thinking….is it because Natura and Champion are simply rolling in cash, laughing all the way to the bank? I really don’t think so. It COSTS MORE to do it THEIR way. What you have to discern as a Dog Owner is whether THEIR way makes any difference. And be prepared that IF anything bad ever happens to one of your pets….to second guess yourself. I can’t live with that. I just can’t.
Mike,
I appreciate your comments about EQ. I was wondering if you knew why the FDA limits EQ to (5 to .5 ppm) in human food but for animal food it is 75 ppm?
Hi Linda… that’s a very good question. I’d like to think the FDA has some real scientific reason for setting this standard… and not just because they believe dogs aren’t as important as humans. Many of us love our dogs as much as we cherish the members of our own human families.
Hmmm you say:
“If the FDA limits ethoxyquin (EQ) content to 75 ppm in a finished product… then it stands to reason that the most dangerous situation would be applying that same limit on direct addition to a specific dog food as a preservative.”
That does not easy our worry at all. The FDA approves all kinds of junk and in levels that are still harmful.
Since Brookshire from Diamond Pet did not forward the results, it logically leads us to believe that they are either hiding the results or they actually didn’t do the tests.
Btw, Natura Pet Foods (makers of Innova Evo) have sold out to P&G, the makers of Iams and Eukanuba… there’s another reason to stay away from Evo now.
Hi Sara… when I say that by law ethoxyquin cannot exceed 75 ppm I am referring to the fish ingredients only. If that particular ingredient makes up 5% of the food, then assuming ethoxyquin content of the fish meal is at its legal limit of 75 ppm… then there’s probably only a trace (5% x 75 ppm = 3.75 ppm) of ethoxyquin in the food.
I wouldn’t be overly concerned about this. And I don’t know of any dog food manufacturer that adds ethoxyquin directly to a food. So far, I’ve only seen it added to fish meals before they are sold to pet food manufacturers.
Diamond makes some very good dog foods… and many contain fish meal. In most cases, that fish meal probably contains ethoxyquin.
Natura may have sold out to Proctor and Gamble… but so far, no changes. I’d wait and see what happens with Natura… and react only IF they change their quality… or recies. Right now, Natura brands still look like some of the best available.
Hopefully, that won’t change.
Mike, what happens with the ethoxyquin when the dog food is a fish based blend? One of my poodles had a definite preference for the fish blends, and loves the TOW Pacific as well as the Evo Herring and Salmon made by Natura.
If I’m reading this discussion properly, I’m increasing the amount of ethoxyquin my poodle takes in with just about any fish based formula, regardless of manufacturer.
And I also want to thank you for the work you’ve done on this.
Hi Irma… ethoxyquin is usually only associated with fish MEALS… not (normally) with plain fish ingredients by themselves. Many manufacturers use ethoxyquin-free fish meals, too. When I can easily locate the information, I usually try to say so in my reviews.
Yes… as I mentioned, most fish meals DO contain ethoxyquin… and the amount is directly related to how far down the ingredients list you find the fish meal. Most of the time when the fish meal is down the list a ways, there’s only a trace… a few parts per million. That doesn’t make the food safe… but it does make it safer.
There are plenty of trace contaminants in the people foods we eat… as well as the air we breathe, too. And none of us are particularly happy about that fact. But… as always, the lower the concentration of any contaminant, the better.
Thanks, for the reply, Mike. I appreciate the information.
Hi, Just wanted to add in on this conversation that when my dog came up with cancer in 09 I began researching foods for my own info as well. Since fish oil, fish based food and anything fish was recommended fof her, I too was concerned about the EQ problems. I have called alot of food companies and found some could not claim EQ free, TOW would not comment, but Wellness (which is owned by same makers of Eagle Pack) and Blue Buffalo guaranteed EQ free and Wellness offered to send me their guarantee in writing. Wellness was the only one who guaranteed EQ free from both the supplier and from them, the manufacturer. Now how good these guarantees are is for each to decide I guess, but I just wanted to pass along the info I had found this year.
Hi Mike, I wanted you to know that I have spent a lot of time on this website and REALLY appreciate all the hard work you have done! I can’t imagine how many hours you have spent compiling all of this info and all of your own money used to call the companies and test the foods. I love animals and it scares me when I think of how ignorant I was before the big dog food recall. It was a wake up call to a lot of people and please let me extend my sympathy to you and your wife for being one of the many people affected by it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for doing this. I know it was because of Penny and I think that you have saved many pets from a terrible fate.