TOWT From Ethoxyquin to Tocopherols (quality control staff answer inside)

[johndh1]

Hi everybody, this is my first post but it's been two weeks that I'm reading on different dog food website and forum to find the Holy Grail.

Here's my original email I sent via their website and the answer I got from their quality control staff:

MY EMAIL

Hi,

My dog background: I rencently begin to be really concern about my dog (Mitsou, a 6yrs old female golden retreiver) nutrition. We always feed her with what the breeder refers to us, the Eukanuba brand, without really asking ourselves if it was the best choice for her. We recently got her to the vet because she was suddenly showing pain when running and jumping. With some X-ray we found that she begin arthrosis. I know her food is the the only factor, but I use to think it could help a lot.

That said, I did a lot of research to find the perfect food that respect our budget. When I found your products I was so happy, it mets all my needs grain-free, not too high protein, different sources of meats, many flavor to make a rotation. But then I find a lot of informations about that preservative your fish distributor uses. I know the answers you gives to people who ask you about that, that your manufacture doesn't add it and the cooking process use to eliminate most of it.

My main question is: Why keep using it since this preservative MAY be unsafe for dog health?

Some of the other brand I looked at seems to have find other ways to add fish to their product without using this preservative. Yes they cost more, but I don't think the price difference is all about a fish source. When I'm looking at the Web I see tons of people switching from TOTW toward Orijen, Acana, EVO for this simple reason. I'm a bit confuse about this, I really want to trust your product and that's why I just brought an High Prairie 30lb bag. But when I see all those people worried about a single ingredient and all those email you received like this one without changing anything, it's call non-sense in my book.

THE ANSWER:

I understand your concerns and frustration.



We are now in the process of transitioning to the naturally preserved fish meal. The use of the naturally preserved fish meal is tentatively scheduled to happen around the middle of May. The natural preservative that we will be using is mixed tocopherols (a mixture of the different chemical structures of Vitamin E).



Our other protein meals are preserved with mixed tocopherols as well.

IMO with this change it makes TOTW one of the best dog food for the price.

Edit: Maybe this thread should have be in the "Dry and Canned Dog Food" section...

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

i wonder if its the suppliers using this preservative? TOTW doesnt add ethoxyquin themselves,the suppliers do.
i wonder if canidae will switch also?i feed canidae grain free.
id say with this change..if its for real,and not just a loop hole of saying that diamond will not add ethox..which they dont...then the high praire and wetlands totw are solid choices. the pacific stream is trash though.

btw im sure my 6 year old would love yours =p

[harrkim120]

Has anyone else heard about this? I'm surprised that they wouldn't try to get the word out there on this one......

[johndh1]

Has anyone else heard about this? I'm surprised that they wouldn't try to get the word out there on this one......

Maybe they give themselves a transition time to test the new formula and assure the profitability of the new preservative. They could also want to avoid overstock problems with the old formula if a "toxic less" version is out.

@RC
As they always state I think that it's only their supplier that was using it and they are now changing, or something like that. It could be another reason why they wait before spreading the word, if something goes wrong with a new supplier (availability, etc.)

Here's a pic of the chick! She is actually flirting with a white labrador on my street, but I'm sure she's open minded, haha! :

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

add her as your avitar!! go to control panel and change avitar. you might need to resize it though! shane would have fun with her for sure.

[johndh1]

She's up there now thanks!

[GermanSheperdlover]

I did a huge study on this and the problem is the US Coast Guard requires it's use if the meal is ""made at sea"". Manufactures can get a specil permit but it cost money....Here is what I found.

Canadian manufactures are not bound by that law and Champion foods(Orijen & Acana), Horizon/Horizon Legacy and Petcurean (Go,Now and Smmit) DO NOT USE IT nor do their supplies.

American manufactures Wellness and Artemis have the special permits.

Every other dog food manufacture in America that has fish meal in it most likely has been preserved by the big bad E by their suppliers. I emailed every decent dog food manufacture and I certainly got a lot of BS.

Nature's Variety says their fish meal is frozen by their suppliers.

Merrick, Breeders Choice, Timberwolf, Nature's Logic and Fromm all stated that they did not buy from suppliers that use it.These were the only companies who stated that their suppliers did not use it.

Naturapet, (Evo, Innova, California Natural, Health Wise and Karma) states it loud and clear on their web site, that they do not buy from suppliers who use it. But P & G bought this company so I know this company well change that, because it is a added cost to the manufacturing process.

[johndh1]

So their manufacture would need those special permits to get their fish meal preserved by the Tocopherols since the US law only recognize E as a standard preservative.

US law about fish meal

What I would like to know is what could be the profit impact of the use of natural preservative? The factors are the preservative price, cost of the special permit, the shorter time before it goes rancid VERSUS less switch for competitors, gain of potential buyers with this raise in the product quality.

[GermanSheperdlover]

This is the Email I got from them, as far as TOTW being the best, they are a long way from that.

Dear Jess,

Thank you for contacting us with this information. Here is the company reply regarding ethoxyquin:

Thank you for your inquiry. There is not any ethoxyquin added to the Taste of the Wild pet foods.

Fish meal is preserved with ethoxyquin on the ships prior to entering port. Ethoxyquin is most effective at preventing rancidity in the highly volatile fish meal. Rancidity in ingredients can lead to severe illness. Fish meal is used in pet food formulas as an excellent quality source of amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3’s are vital for a strong immune system, healthy skin and coat, controlling inflammation and even preventing certain types of cancer.

Most of the ethoxyquin is destroyed in the cooking process, requiring other preservatives to be used. Tests for ethoxyquin are run routinely on Taste of the Wild. The results are typically less than 5ppm. This is equivalent to 0.0005% or 5 ten-thousandth’s of a percent. This is a true trace level that many laboratories are unable to detect. The amount allowed, and considered to be safe, by the FDA is 75ppm.

There is a small supply of ethoxyquin free fish meal available in the United States. However, this is not adequate to meet the supply demands for all pet food manufacturers that use fish meal. Ethoxyquin is being used in scientific research as a cancer fighting antioxidant. When present in controlled or trace amounts, it has never been shown to cause harmful effects.

Sincerely,

--
Melissa Brookshire, DVM

Sorry but this is total B.S.....

[GermanSheperdlover]

Don't get me wrong because I really like TOTW, now here is MY list

The A list
1. Orijen, Grain free.
2. Evo, Grain free.
3. Horizon Legacy, Grain free.
4. Acana, some grain free.
5. Innova
6. Wellness Core, Grain free.
7. Blue Wilderness, Grain free.
8. Taste of the Wild, wetlands & prairie only, Grain free.
9. Fromm, surf & turf is grain free
10. Merrick, Some grain free.

Good quality for a low price
1. TOTW
2. California Natural
3. Health Wise
4. Kirkland, Costco

The B list

1. California Natural
2. Instinct, Grain free.
3. Now, Grain free.
4. GO, free indurance,chicken,salmon only
5. Artemis
6. Evangers
7. Timberwolf
8. Wellness
9. Solid Gold
10. Canidae
11.Health Wise
12.Karma

I have a feeling Horizon Legacy could be history because Horizon does not have it listed on their site and DFA used to have it reviewed as ASix star food and it isn't listed anymore.