Please be aware of ethoxyquin and BHA

[babyboos]

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