ethoxyquin in taste of the wild?

the pet store where we usually get our taste of the wild has pulled all taste of the wild and indigo moon products due to the usage of ethoxyquin (which may cause cancer)

there really isn't anywhere else around here to buy it, and i am rather concerned about carcinogens, so i am at a loss. as is we buy taste of the wild and a small bag of natural balance and mix, my cats do not do well on a straight grain free, they lose too much weight too fast.

we got a bag of evo and i am mixing it in with what they have left but of course now evo is owned by p&g and there is the possible quality issue.

what can we try that is reasonably priced? we can't go with orijen or acana they are way too expensive. we switched to taste so we didn't have to keep spending huge amounts on food that wasn't as high in quality, and now there is this. they were ok on natural balance but they have been doing really well on the blend. i don't want to have to switch

it is so frustrating! i just want a good food for my babies at a reasonable price! i wish i could convince my husband to go raw, but he is worried about cost.

I feed TOTW - I don't see this ingredient listed on the bag or on the ingredient list online. Is it called something else?

it is a chemical preservative. in the US all ocean farmed fish have to be preserved with it (for pet food use) and while the manufacturer needs to put it on the label if THEY use it directly they do not need to include it if their supplies are using it to preserve the ingredients. apparently the fact that they use ocean farmed fish meal guarantees the presence of ethoxyquin.

from this link:

The cat food also may contain an ingredient called ethoxyquin. This is found in many pet foods, but it's use is controversial. In fact, it is so controversial that companies that produce pet foods without it say so on the package. Ethoxyquin is believed to be a cause of cancer in animals. If you are looking for a cat food without this substance Orijen states that they do not use it.

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Originally Posted by kwren

it is a chemical preservative. in the US all ocean farmed fish have to be preserved with it (for pet food use) and while the manufacturer needs to put it on the label if THEY use it directly they do not need to include it if their supplies are using it to preserve the ingredients. apparently the fact that they use ocean farmed fish meal guarantees the presence of ethoxyquin.

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There's been quite a lot of discussion of this on my dog forum, and somebody posted some info proving this isn't true. Many U.S.-made pet food companies DO use ethoxyquin-free fish meal. I'll try to find the link.

Even with ethoxyquin preserved fish meal, there's some debate as to how much of that actually ends up in the finished product. Probably not much.

I'm surprised your pet store pulled a food for this reason. A lot of cheap foods actually LIST ethoxyquin in the ingredients, did they pull all of those as well? Or do they only sell select foods?

There are other stores you can buy TOTW at. Tractor Supply sells it for a very reasonable price.

Originally Posted by kwren

it is a chemical preservative. in the US all ocean farmed fish have to be preserved with it (for pet food use) and while the manufacturer needs to put it on the label if THEY use it directly they do not need to include it if their supplies are using it to preserve the ingredients. apparently the fact that they use ocean farmed fish meal guarantees the presence of ethoxyquin.

from this link:

Click to expand...

The above is correct ... Today there is a alternative preserving agent( supposedly natural though no company seems to want to divulge exact contents) ... Another way around it supposedly is to bring the fish into port as Fresh fish not made into a meal out at sea