. They are truly...
September 25th, 2009
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The two ingredients BHA and BHT have been considered toxic for decades, and they used to be found in snack foods for humans, too.
They are chemical antioxidants that keep the fatty contents of pet food from turning rancid. These chemicals have been linked to birth defects and liver and kidney damage. If a cat ingests them at every single meal it has to take a toll. The value of BHA and BHT to pet food makers, who still routinely use them, is that once they are doused on kibble, the stuff can stay “fresh” for endless amounts of time. Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter. |
Are there other names for BHA & BHT? I just checked my bag of Authority and it does not list those as ingredients.
How do we know if our food has these chemicals? It’s not on the bag….. ??? More info PLEASE!
Most retailers carry only pet food that has all the preservatives and other synthetic ingredients. Fortunately, I have a great pet store that carries mostly all natural and organic pet food at a reasonable price. Also, The Good Life Recipe for cats(and dogs) are preservative free and you can get coupons from their website. Also watch out for BHT & BHA in human food-Most commercial cereals have it in.
If anyone wants more info go to Dr. Mercola website and sign up for their newsletter. You can lookup almost anything about any ingredients, and they have a section dedicated to pet healthcare.
Also to keep your cat healthy, us natural kitty litter such as Feline Pine(available at Target) or Cedarific. It controls odors better and better for your feline.
Do Purina and Friskies dry cat foods contain the toxic preservatives?
Purina Indoors does not; but it does contain different dyes.
Thank you ALL for paying attention to this tip and to being concerned. One answer is that while the bags may no longer say BHA & BHT (because consumers have become aware of the issue), if the ingredients arrive at the pet food plant with preservatives already in them, they do not need to disclose that on the label. But as it turns out, the real danger is not just what is put into dry foods to preserve them, but the very fact that cats should not be eating dry food in the first place – they should not be getting almost ALL of the ingredients in any dry cat food. Cats are obligate carnivores – they should be eating meat only, not any highly processed carbohydrates. The books below will explain why corn and other plant material is not natural for a cat and causes diabetes as well as kidney and urinary tract issues, and obesity. My own website has loads of Q&A’s and BLOGS on this topic if you don’t want to buy a book, but there are several excellent sources to learn more about the truth about commercial pet food (my own book THE CAT BIBLE is one, and Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins’ book YOUR CAT has a superb discussion about commercial food; while NOT FIT FOR A DOG! is very good and relates to cat food, too). So while the additives and coloring agents and flavor enhancers, etc in dry cat food are all worth avoiding, the first thing you should be avoiding is dry food at all. Canned or raw food is the appropriate fuel for an obligate carnivore – not the corn and other carbohydrates nature never intended for a cat’s digestive system. Any reputable researcher or honest writer will sound the alarm for any pet food, which has any form of corn as a primary ingredient and that, reappears down the list. The labels do speak for themselves and I urge you to please learn (from the books or my website) what the words mean, what the health consequences are for your kitties, and give that bag of whatever food you are feeding to a local shelter and invest in some canned food. There is a printable, downloadable list on my website (www.TheCatBible.com) of all the canned flavors and companies in both the supermarket and premium pet food stores. As for Purina indoor food you asked about, those ingredients speak volumes: in the top ten ingredients you have “Corn Meal” first, “corn gluten meal and soy flour” third and fourth, and then “cellulose” and “soybean hulls” which are indigestible plant fiber, which can technically be sawdust. There are a number of food dyes, some of which are banned in other countries because they can cause cancer. Please switch to a nice canned chicken or turkey based food and you won’t need to worry about those additives!
“These chemicals have been linked to birth defects and liver and kidney damage”. You don’t give your sources. BHT (butylated hydoxy toluene) and BHA are FDA approved ingredient. I never listen about birth defects. Liver and Kidney damages are not caused but amplified by BHT and BHA when you give to rats several g/kg of rat by day for several weeks. You never have this quantity in foods. So you don’t have to worry.
Hello Arine -I am glad you took the time to write from France, I see, but frankly I am astonished by your laissez-faire attitude towards toxic preservatives in food. The French and Italians have been so wonderful for decades at not allowing articial colorings or flavorings in the human food chain, and are much better about what goes into pet and animal feed, too. And your comments about how little might be in the pet food is like saying that one or two cigarettes a day really isn’t a problem because it only causes cancer in large quanities in lab animals! Common sense and scientific studies would tell us all that putting dangerous chemicals in any quantity in our pets’ food is playing Russian roulette with their health. Please take some time to read a little in THE DOG BIBLE abouthow pet food is made in America and I think you will view it differntly afterwards!