Bha Preservative In Dog Food

1 yet to this day ethoxyquin is still commonly found in many popular brands of dog food.

Bha preservative in dog food. Bha is on a short list of additives allowed in pet foods meant only for preserving the life of the food. Ethoxyquin has been under investigation by the fda as a possible cause for certain liver and blood problems. Vitamin e also known as mixed tocopherols is another natural preservative that bolsters dog nutrition. Vitamin e is an antioxidant preservative like vitamin c and will stabilize fat and oils.

Bht can be found in embalming fluids cosmetics petroleum products pharmaceuticals pesticides and much more. In addition the preservative is not permitted for use in australian dog foods nor is it approved within in the european union. Though some dog food companies prefer a safer and natural preservative because the fda still claims bha is safe to ingest and use in dog foods it is often found as one of the last ingredients as an additive and preservative for dog food. It can cause kidney damage and has been identified by the state of california as a possible carcinogen.

Berries can be used as antioxidants and natural preservatives because they can be a source of vitamin c. Whole grain corn poultry by product meal animal fat preserved with mixed tocopherols form of vitamin e corn gluten meal meat and bone meal brewers rice soybean meal barley whole. Butylated hydroxyanisole also known as bha is an antioxidant primarily used as a preservative in food animal feed cosmetics rubber and petroleum products. 1 the national toxicology program of the department of health and human services warns that bha is reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen cancer causing agent 2.

Plus it is a necessary nutrient for your dog so it is a great natural preservative for dog food. 6 red 40 bha used as a preservative dl methionine purina dog chow. It s very common today to find cranberries and blueberries added to dog foods. The most common preservatives used in pet foods are bha bht and ethoxyquin.

Two more to avoid. Synthetic preservatives are known as bha butylated hydroxyanisole bht butylated hydroxytoluene propyl gallate propylene glycol and the one that leads the hot debate ethoxyquin. The fda claims bha can be used safely as an additive in dog foods to preserve the shelf life of fats found in manufactured dog foods. Tocopherols from nuts and seeds citric and ascorbic acids from citrus fruits carotenoids from some fruits and vegetables can all act as natural preservatives.

However the fda allows bha to be added to human food and dog treats at certain levels and classifies the preservative as generally regarded as safe the idea is that although bha might cause cancer in lab rats its metabolized differently by other animals humans and dogs in particular and it s used in foods at amounts well below levels that would cause problems. It has been directly linked to cancer in dogs and humans.