>Date: Sun, 22 Jan 1995 18:40:13 -0800
>From: Anonymous Poster <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Fish protein & Ethoxyquin
ETHOXYQUIN
by Pam Grant
from STAR* Ferrets, Fall 1993
(Input from GEnie and FDA sources)
A long time back, a big stink started about a preservative called ethoxyquin
("e" for short). Many all-natural pet food manufacturers denounced this
additive, and some dog breeders claimed that "e" was causing health problems
in their animals by aborting litters.
The following is taken from the Cat Category off GEnie's Pet Net as a
response to my query:
Category 2, Topic 23 Message 9 Wed Jan 01, 1992 G.MCCAUSEY1 [Ginger]
at 23:12 EST
The food additive you refer to, Pam, is ethoxyquin, an antioxidant used to
prevent rancidity of unsaturated fats.
An excellent article about the use of ethoxyquin in cat foods appeared in
the November 1989 issue of "Cat Fancy" magazine, on page 34, entitled
"Probing Preservatives" by Francis A. Kallfelz, D.V.M. (In case you should
decide to look up the article and read it, which I recommend, be aware that a
typo says "parts per molecule", when it should be "parts per million". In a
later issue of the magazine this was corrected.)
The controversy surrounding ethoxyquin arose originally from a dog breeder
who correlated the beginning of breeding and reproductive problems in her
kennel with a change to a pet food that contained this preservative. She
wrote an article that appeared in a regional pet publication, but was not
actually justified by research.
The amount of ethoxyquin used in cat food is far below the maximum allowable
concentration. So-called natural pet foods that use vitamin E as an
antioxidant, instead, cost about twice as much per pound as those using
ethoxyquin, so the savings to the pet food companies from using it are
apparently passed on to the consumer.
The illnesses that can be caused by deterioration of the unsaturated fats in
cat food include steatitis (yellow fat disease) and vitamin E and A
deficiencies. In addition, rancidity of these fats produces a foul odor and
makes the food unfit for that reason, also.
The use of ethoxyquin prevents these. No adverse effects have been shown.
Surprisingly, the use of ethoxyquin in pet foods has been shown to have an
anticancer effect and also to protect against the toxic effects of
mycotoxins. Therefore, far from being detrimental, the use of ethoxyquin has
a definitely beneficial effect on cats.
Some brands of cat food that do not list ethyoxyquin have been shown to
contain it anyway, because the fat that the company purchases to include in
the food already is preserved with it, and the company does not list it as a
separate ingredient.
It's as simple as this: no one would ever choose to feed a cat anything
that contains rancid fat. To prevent it, you either have to feed food that's
freshly made or use SOMETHING as an antioxidant. You can pay a lot more and
get food that has much higher levels of vitamin E added for that purpose or
has much shorter shelf life, or you can pay much less and get food with
ethoxyquin and the added benefits it confers. As an aside, even using
vitamin E is not foolproof; vitamin E is depleted when oxidation starts,
resulting eventually in a vitamin E deficient food.
In my opinion, there is too much "information" that people are passing
around nowadays that is just wrong. It is too easy to get people stirred up
for protests without checking the validity of the protest. Too many people
are using their feelings instead of their intelligence when it is not
appropriate. And too many decent companies and organizations are being hurt
by untruths passed on by those, such as "natural" pet food producers, who
have ulterior motives and hidden agendas.
Too often, people base decisions on political correctness, rather than
careful thought. A sad example of this is the tragic spectacle we now have
of many babies and young children dying of whooping cough, which has made a
comeback due to the reluctance in the last decade on the part of parents to
get their babies immunized...this because a "protest" movement urged people
not to, falsely claiming that the vaccine was a greater danger than the
disease and that the "establishment" was pushing the vaccine for profit. I
tell you, people, don't just question authority, also question the
questioners.
Best wishes, Ginger
According to the Food and Drug Administration HHS manual, Title 21 of the
Code of Regulations, section 573.380, Ethoxyquin in animal feeds:
"Ethoxyquin (1, 2-dihydro-6-ethoxy-2, 2, 4-trimethylquinoline) may be safely
used in animal feeds, when incorporated therein in accordance with the
following prescribed conditions.
(a) It is intended for use only: (1) As a chemical preservative for
retarding oxidation of carotene, xanthophylls, and vitamins A and E in animal
feed and fish food and, (2) as an aid in preventing the development of
organic peroxides in canned pet food.
(b) The maximum quantity of the additive permitted to be used and to remain
in or on the treated article shall not exceed 150 parts per million.
(c) To assure safe use of the additive, the label and labeling of the food
additive container and that of any intermediate premixes prepared therefrom
shall contain, in addition to other information required by the act: (1) The
name of the additive, ethoxyquin.
(2) A statement of the concentration or strength therein.
(3) Adequate use directions to provide for a finished article with the
proper concentration of the additive as provided in paragraph (b) of this
section, whether or not intermediate premixes are to be used.
(d) The label of any animal feed containing the additive shall, in addition
to the other information required by the act, bear the statement "Ethoxyquin,
a preservative" or "Ethoxyquin added to retard the oxidative destruction of
carotene, xanthophylls, and vitamins A and E."
And in case anyone ever wondered, "e" is used to preserve the red coloring
in chile powder and cayenne powder. (editor)
The FDA provides consumers with several options in expressing concerns and
learning about the things we consume. If anyone is interested in what
toxicological information the FDA has to support the regulation for the use
of "e" in animal feeds, they should submit the request in writing to: FDA,
Freedom of Information (FoI) Staff, HFI-35, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD
20857. Please be advised there is a charge for this service.
There has been some activity recently in looking at "e". There has been a
Citizen's Petition submitted under section 10.30 of Title 21 (also available
under FoI Act as 93P-0081/CP1) to ban "e". Also, prechronic studies on "e"
were begun by the National Toxicology Program in late summer 1992. Once
these studies are evaluated, chronic studies will probably be performed on
"e". Great weight will probably be given to these studies in any decision
regarding the additive. These studies are not likely to be complete before
late 1995.
Again, coming from GEnie, Jun 20, 1993 P.LADD1 [Pete&Amy] at 19:19 EDT
To anyone who knows--
We recently made the "switch" to the Turkey & Barley ProPlan, but only two
of five seem to have taken to it. ...our question of the day is--what else
is available for ferrets that is ethoxyquin free? If anything. I am of the
opinion that we probably aren't giving enough to them to hurt them, but
Amy...she worries a lot... Pete ------------
Well, just about any 'all natural' dry cat food will contain vitamin E as
the preservative instead of "e", BHT and BHA. By the way, these last two
preservatives are not regulated by FDA, because they were sort of
"grandfathered" in before regulation (1958). They are considered 'safe'.
Just remember, when feeding ferrets, the protein must be 32% or greater and
the first ingredient should be a meat or its byproduct. Animal fat is also
needed by ferrets, especially growing kits. Don't compromise the diet if you
fear an unknown - an alternative diet lacking the proper protein and fats
will certainly hurt the ferret whereas we DO NOT know ethoxyquin will. *
[Posted in FML issue 1084]
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