# Taste of the Wild=ethoxyquin FREE



## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

Taken from another dog forum:



> A recent thread had me a little confused on TOTW and the preservative used for their ocean fish meal, an ingredient found in ALL their kibble flavors. I was under the understanding ethoxyquin was used.
> _
> I was recently informed from Melissa Brookshire, DVM from Taste of the Wild, they have acquired a supplier that has permission to use a natural preservative prior to entering port. All of their ocean fish meal is now preserved with natural ingredients, NOT ethoxyquin, which was previously used._
> 
> I thought this was wonderful news TOTW users would like to know!


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

cool. have started to switch over to TOTW last Thursday. Then yesterday saw that TOTW was on the Has Ethoxyquin list. I guess nice to see that it is off.

But (lol) what is ethoxyquin and how is it bad for dogs?


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## Chikyuu (May 1, 2010)

Yay! Now I can give my puppy all three flavors! ... Cept when I get her the fish I'll definitely have to get her some doggy breathmints too. wew.


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

Does anyone know when this switch did or is going to happen? We started feeding the fish formula a few weeks ago before we knew about the E and are hoping the switch had already been made, and if not, that it will be made before we buy the next bag. 

Any way to make sure the next bag doesn't have it in it? (old stock from the store, etc?)


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## Enhasa (Feb 6, 2010)

DJEtzel said:


> Does anyone know when this switch did or is going to happen? We started feeding the fish formula a few weeks ago before we knew about the E and are hoping the switch had already been made, and if not, that it will be made before we buy the next bag.
> 
> Any way to make sure the next bag doesn't have it in it? (old stock from the store, etc?)



this switch just happened, or is about to happen.
Diamond said they are making the switch in June 2010.
It probably will take a while for them to be completely using the fish that is ethoxyquin free.
More than likely, Diamond still has a lot of fish in stock that are still preserved with ethoxyquin that is waiting to go through the manufacturing process. No way they're gonna trash that.

Then it takes time for the ethoxyquin-free fish to be manufactured, which then takes time to get to the distributors, which then takes time to end up at your local pet store.
Ultimately, your local pet store might be holding the new stock back until they blow off their current stock.
It depends on the sales volume of TOTW at your local pet store. If you buy online from petfooddirect or a high TOTW sales volume store, chances are you will get it faster than others.

This transition, I am guessing, will take at the very least 1 month, or up to 3 months. I am hoping they will label it on the labels, since this is something to be proud of. But I doubt they will do that in the short run since everyone will just pick the bag with the new label, which then doesn't make sense for Diamond. 

I am actually excited about this. TOTW is cheap and now with the fish being ethoxyquin free, I will now strongly consider this brand.
My only hope is that they do NOT change the formulation, or reduce the amount of fish in the foods (thereby lowering the omega levels), because naturally preserved fish are more expensive, and the prices of fish has skyrocketed recently because of the oil spill in the gulf.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

Enhasa said:


> this switch just happened, or is about to happen.
> Diamond said they are making the switch in June 2010.
> It probably will take a while for them to be completely using the fish that is ethoxyquin free.
> More than likely, Diamond still has a lot of fish in stock that are still preserved with ethoxyquin that is waiting to go through the manufacturing process. No way they're gonna trash that.
> ...


You know, I just put two and two together. TOTW is on big time discount at TSC, it's like 20 bucks for a large bag. I wonder if they're trying to move the current stock in order to get the new stuff on the shelves ASAP. Even if the price goes up some, I am glad that TOTW is listening to what people are asking for. I hope they don't change anything else; Auz does well with it in his rotation. I hate when foods change the complete formula (look what happened to Canidae.)


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

LazyGRanch713 said:


> You know, I just put two and two together. TOTW is on big time discount at TSC, it's like 20 bucks for a large bag. I wonder if they're trying to move the current stock in order to get the new stuff on the shelves ASAP. Even if the price goes up some, I am glad that TOTW is listening to what people are asking for. I hope they don't change anything else; Auz does well with it in his rotation. I hate when foods change the complete formula (look what happened to Canidae.)


It only makes sense that that's what they were doing. I'm gonna check out my petstore for any price differences tomorrow, but they move their stock pretty quick I think, only ordering 2 or 3 bags of each formula a week. 

And I agree- I hope they don't change anything else. Frag is doing great with this too, it's the first food we've found that agrees with his allergies.


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## Chikyuu (May 1, 2010)

DJEtzel said:


> It only makes sense that that's what they were doing. I'm gonna check out my petstore for any price differences tomorrow, but they move their stock pretty quick I think, only ordering 2 or 3 bags of each formula a week.
> 
> And I agree- I hope they don't change anything else. Frag is doing great with this too, it's the first food we've found that agrees with his allergies.


Yeah. I tried samples of canidae on River and her poops said no. What a shame. But hey, Canidae was bit overpriced anyway and TOTW for it's quality isn't badly priced. And it's effin delicious to boot.


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## Angel's_mom (May 26, 2010)

I just bought a bag of the Wetlands formula today. I got the 5 lb bag, to start out with. Tractor supply here had $3 off the 30 lb bag but the smaller bags weren't on sale. I just have the one dog, and at one cup a day, it would take us forever to use a 30 lb bag!


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## Gladius270 (Jan 11, 2010)

Did we ever figure out if 4health is made by diamond? If so, do you reckon that it will be affected?


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## Enhasa (Feb 6, 2010)

Gladius270 said:


> Did we ever figure out if 4health is made by diamond? If so, do you reckon that it will be affected?


a lot of brands might be affected (positively)
canidae, natural balance, etc.

that is assuming of course, that they change their entire fish supplier to a ethoxyquin-free one.

nothing had been said about that


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## Gladius270 (Jan 11, 2010)

Just an update. I emailed Diamond, and they got back to me. I asked if they make 4health, and asked if it would be affected by the switch to ethoxyquin free. I'm guessing this means that 4health is already ethyoxyquin free:

Thank you for your inquiry.

Diamond Pet Foods makes the 4-Health Pet Foods for Tractor Supply and
the fish meal ingredients are preserved with natural preservative, mixed
tocopherols, (vitamin E).

Sincerely,

Pam Libbert
Customer Service Representative
Diamond Pet Foods


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## puppenyaro07 (Jun 5, 2010)

Gladius270 said:


> Just an update. I emailed Diamond, and they got back to me. I asked if they make 4health, and asked if it would be affected by the switch to ethoxyquin free. I'm guessing this means that 4health is already ethyoxyquin free:
> 
> Thank you for your inquiry.
> 
> ...


this does not yet indicate whether they have completely switched over to suppliers that do not use it. it may only indicate what they themselves are using during/after production.

i would have to see them state clearly that all their suppliers are using an alternative preservative.


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

puppenyaro07 said:


> this does not yet indicate whether they have completely switched over to suppliers that do not use it. it may only indicate what they themselves are using during/after production.
> 
> i would have to see them state clearly that all their suppliers are using an alternative preservative.


This is what they are saying the fish is preserved with. Meaning it's what their suppliers are preserving with, because as I understand it, they do not need to re-preserve.


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## puppenyaro07 (Jun 5, 2010)

DJEtzel said:


> This is what they are saying the fish is preserved with. Meaning it's what their suppliers are preserving with, because as I understand it, they do not need to re-preserve.


they were already "re-preserving" at the plant based on the following email another poster received from them:

_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._

so, even when ethoxyquin was/is used, they were still preserving at their facility with additional preservatives, which is why they were always able to deny (that they themselves) were adding E to their food (while conveniently not stating their suppliers were using it)

so, IMO, stating they are using x preservative is in no way shape or form the same as them stating clearly that they are now using suppliers that do not preserve with E. other companies whose suppliers dont use E are clear about this.

a simple email asking them if any of their current suppliers are using E should produce a less vague response (i dont feed diamond products for a couple reasons, but i have asked for clear denials that suppliers use preservatives other than E from the manufacturers i do use and have received specific answers to that question),


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## Angel's_mom (May 26, 2010)

So, what does ethoxyquin do? I mean, what harmful effects does it have?


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## puppenyaro07 (Jun 5, 2010)

Angel's_mom said:


> So, what does ethoxyquin do? I mean, what harmful effects does it have?


there are concerns about long term effects on the liver and kidneys, as well as its possible carcinogenic properties. many of the long term studies have not been done on dogs. 

there is also the question of why the FDA allows such a small amount of “E” residue (5 to .5 ppm) in human consumed foods (and even then only for certain spices) yet allows such high amounts (150 ppm) to be used in pet food and livestock feeds? In the case of the dog, pound for pound, a dog weighs 1/5 to 1/10th the weight of a human (except for giant breeds of dogs) yet is consuming 300 times more “E” than allowed for people.

there is no doubt E is very effective as a preservative. companies like Iams and Diamond have always claimed the amounts left after cooking are safe.(does that inspire confidence??)

i think many dog food owners would simply prefer to not find out what the long term effects are on their dogs and instead push for preservatives that appear to be safer for long term use.

dog food manufacturers in the U.S. have to jump throught some regulatory hoops to get their fish supplier to preserve with something other than E. E is one of the cheaper preservatives, so it wouldnt surprise me if their was some kind of cost hike if Diamond makes this switch. hopefully for Diamond feeders there wont be.


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## cgroman1 (Jun 8, 2010)

Thank you for your post, You were right as a TOW user this is good information for me to know!
thanks again.


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