I just discovered that Purina Pro Plan adds Ethoxyquin to most of their pet foods. I read something about it online so I called Purina because they don't list it on the ingredients and sure enough it's true. I was very disappointed as my dogs are doing great on it but I draw the line at toxic preservatives such as Ethoxyquin , BHA , BHT. I found that Eukanuba has similar ingredients to Pro Plan minus the Ethoxyquin I checked.
I'm not familiar with Ethoxyquin, but if I was worried about an ingredient in dog food I'd look up the studies on it in Google Scholar first, then if they suggest it's a potential issue maybe chat with your vet if you did want to keep using it? Hopefully it's nothing to worry about and just one of those rumours which gets out of hand! Either way, there can't be any harm switching brands if you are concerned
The breeder I got Koda from feeds all her puppies and adult dogs Eukanuba. I switched Koda after a mont because he started losing interest in it, but the breeder loves it so you could definitely give it a try. I've heard mixed reviews on how good the brand is from people, but it's ranked pretty high for large breed puppies.
I know. It's very difficult to pick the "best" food. My dogs have been eating the Eukanuba for about 3 weeks and doing great on it. Perfect solid stool which is the first sign I look for. They like it too but they are not picky anyway.
BHA is another one - it is banned from use in human foods in the UK because it is carcinogenic but in North America it can still be legally added to your foods - human foods, that is, not dog foods - which I assume it is liberally added to, if it is allowed in human food! I was recently about to order some wormer from the US (via my husband on a trip there) but on checking the ingredients and seeing it had BHA in it, decided I would rather stick with UK wormers... If you live in the US, it does seem there are much more lax standards around food than there are in Europe and you need to do more research into what it's safe to eat - and that's for humans as well, not just for dogs! (And it ain't perfect here by any means!!) In Europe, these items don't need to be individually listed and the ingredient list can just say 'EU permitted antioxidants and preservatives' or similar - you have to dig deeper to find more. Part of the reason I switched to raw, really...
I know. Isn't it awful. They put that BHA crap in everything and there's no reason for it. It must be cheaper to use.
