Please be aware of ethoxyquin and BHA

**babyboos** · 03-20-2005, 03:20 PM

Ethoxyquin is a controversial preservative that I think we should all be aware of. It is found in many feeds (Kaytee, Hartz, etc..) for small and larger animals alike.

Ethoxyquin is not used as a preservative for any human foods except to "promote color retention" in paprika and ground chilli pepper in a maximum concentration of 100 ppm. The maximum allowable residue in eggs, meat, poultry, apples, pears, poultry (fat and livers) for human use is 0.5 ppm. In animal feedsyuffs the maximum allowable concentration of ethoxyquin is 150 ppm.

Being that hamsters and other small animals are more fragile than humans, it seems risky I think to feed something that is limited for human intake to them in such large quantities. I would really like to know if you guys have any thoughts on this subject. I currently use Harry Hamster from Supreme Petfoods Ltd. which does not contain this ingredient and I totally recommend not using a feed containing ethoxyquin, to be safe.

In studies I have read on the internet, here is what I have found (sadly all on rats still searching for something on hamsters - maybe Emma you could help out here?)

-Chronic feeding studies in rats of 0.2 % of ethoxyquin in the diet caused transient depression in growth rate, At necropsy, damage to kidneys, liver and thyroid gland were seen in many of the male rats but not in the females.

-In another study, diets containing 0.5 % ethoxyquin fed to rats for up to 18 months, produced renal lesions in all of the study animals.

-Continuous administration to rats fed a diet of 0.2 % ethoxyquin, caused tumors in some of the animals.

BHA is another controversial additive to watch out for. This is a good paper Howarth JA , Dobrota M , Hinton RH , Walker R, (1995) , "Effects on Rat Thyroid and Other Tissues of the Food Additives Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) and Erythrosine", Human and Experimental Toxicology, 14, pp384-384

afishcalledwanda · 03-20-2005, 04:07 PM

I'm glad someone started something on this. I made mention of this chemical preservative on PWS some time back, can't remember where or when, but I've know about this stuff some 10 years or more from when I kept horses.

Keep spreading information on this babyboos. It really is something that should concern humans and animals alike.

I try to avoid any food that contains words I cannot pronounce. My theory on this is if you cannot pronounce it, it's not food.

**babyboos** · 03-20-2005, 04:46 PM

Great adage Wanda

Coco1 · 03-22-2005, 08:35 AM

Man, good post. I had no idea. I use the Kaytee forti-diet for Nibbles but will certainly think about changing it now. Does anyone out there use any other foods other than "Harry Hamster" that also does not have this additive in it? Would like to know whats out there...

Emma · 03-22-2005, 10:54 AM

I use Burgess SupaHamster (see http://www.burgesssupafeeds.co.uk) which doesn't have any additives in either. Things like this seem to be added so the food looks more appetizing to us humans rather than for the animals benefit, which is completely loopy to me.

I haven't come across anything in journals about it, but then I haven't looked (and I'm on holiday at the moment

, so can't do it now!) but I think most things of this nature valid for rats will apply to hamsters pretty much equally.

**babyboos** · 03-22-2005, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coco1

Man, good post. I had no idea. I use the Kaytee forti-diet for Nibbles but will certainly think about changing it now. Does anyone out there use any other foods other than "Harry Hamster" that also does not have this additive in it? Would like to know whats out there...

I am not sure what you have locally available... I think Harry Hamster is known as Hazel Hamster in US? Double check your bag as our Kaytee here may be a different formulation in US to UK.

Coco1 · 03-22-2005, 02:36 PM

Maybe it is Hazel Hamster... I'll check next time I go in as to which foods don't have it. I know my Kaytee Forti Diet DOES have it in.

Emma · 03-22-2005, 03:16 PM

I think Harry Hamster = Hazel Hamster in the US too, I think they changed it. Although if you go on the Supreme petfoods website (www.russelrabbit.com) it still says Harry Hamster under the US section.

It's made by Supreme petfoods anyway and they link to some online retailers on their site.