Is Natural Balance Exothycoin free?
 

Hi I was wondering if anyone knows if natural Balance is Exothycoin free?
I know there was a post fot Exothycoin free dog food and I can't find it.

Well, according to this post, it isn't.


http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...thoxyquin.html

Found the link for the original post, too.

http://www.swisslickswissies.com/ind...ves/ethoxyquin

Pasquale use to be on Natural Balance and i tried to look it up on their website..but nowhere did it state if they werent free of this. So just to be safe i switched him.

okay thanks for your help!!
My daughter is trying to find a good food for her Yorkie and her Yorkie is allergic to wellness. Any suggestions on a good dog food for an overweight sensitive stomach Yorkie?

Do you know what ingredient(s) he's allergic to? It's hard to recommend something without knowing that. Food allergies are usually caused by the proteins in food. For example, Alexander can't have chicken.

What symptoms does her yorkie have when it eats Wellness? It could also be a food intolerance rather than an allergy. An intolerance might be why she thinks it has a sensitive stomach.

She breaks out in hives. little red blotches all over her tummy and ears.

That sounds more like an environmental allergy to me, but I'm by no means an expert. Has she been allergy tested by her vet? It sounds like this would be the best place to start IMO.

If it is a food allergy, there isn't a reliable test to find the source. Most recommend an elimination diet to find out which ingredient(s) is causing the problem. For example, when I did Alexander's elimination diet the vet recommended that I start by eliminating chicken because it is such a common allergen. Fortunately for us, that was what it was and we didn't have to continue eliminating foods over several months. So I would look for a food that contained different proteins than what Wellness has and start there if you really think it's food related.

When she came to visit she tried wellness of her dog Gidget and she broke out in a rash, but I never thought about the environmental allergy. She just never tried it again bc she was worried that it was the food.
I am going to suggest that she trys a lamb protein bc it was a chicken based that she was on. Thanks!

You're welcome. Good luck! :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an email from NB:

Hello,
Thank you for contacting Natural Balance regarding the concern you have with the fish products used in our diets. Natural Balance does not use ethoxyquin to stabilize any of our products. However, it is required by law (U.S. Coast Guards and FDA) that all fish meal being transported before processing contains ethoxyquin to prevent decay of the product. Once it has entered processing, heat dissipates the ethoxyquin. Some large pet food companies continue to add ethoxyquin to stabilize their products. Natural Balance DOES NOT. We use Naturox, a natural preservative, which contains citric acid and vitamin E. Natural Balance is committed to providing the finest quality food for our companion animals, and is taking all the steps necessary to insure that this happens. We also suggest that you take some time to look over our “Buy with Confidence Program” (Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance® Pet Foods :1) in which we post ALL the testing that has been done on our products. Before our products ever leave for distribution they are tested for the following contaminates: aflatoxin, DON (Vomitoxin), melamine, cyanuric acid, ochratoxin, fumonisin, and zearalenone. Soon to be added to this group of testing is E-coli and salmonella. Further, the FDA recommends that ALL pet food companies test for vomitoxin, aflatoxin, zeralenone, ochratoxin, and fumonisin. At this time Natural Balance is the ONLY pet food company that is testing for these contaminates.
Furthermore, potato fiber/protein is derived from white potatoes.
In regards to the Sweet Potato & Bison formula, samples are not yet available. However, I will send you some coupons. Have a great day!

I contacted Natural Balance about ethoxyquin in their products and they responded by stating they do NOT add it to stabilize any of their foods. However some of their fish products are stabilized with it as required by law before transporting. Once it has been processed, heat dissipates the ethoxyquin.

Natural Balance is a wonderful, healthy food. Nothing to worry about.

Thanks for letting me know!!

I am SO glad I came across this thread! I just received some samples of Natural Balance that I requested a couple of weeks ago. I have the beef and rice roll, the duck and potato treat roll and some dry duck and potato kibble. Neo is wishy-washy on the d/p roll and won't touch the dry, but almost eats my fingers when I offered the b/r roll! He has got to be THE pickiest eater in Alabama(besides my DH)! My main concern was if this was really a good food for him and wanted Yorkie Talk opinions.:rolleyes:

I've chosen to find foods that are ethoxyquin free. To me, it's just not worth the risk.

I inquired and received the same email as in post #10 (maybe that is mine that I posted??)

Anyway, I feel totally confident in Natural Balance food and will continue to feed it to all my doggies.

That is basically the same reply I received. I also feel Natural Balance is a great food and have fed to both of my furkids for years. Also, based on the wording of their reply, it sounds as though it is only used in the fish products they purchase from suppliers.

I have fed my lil one the Natural Balance Organic for the past couple years and it has been the best food that she likes that I have found....:animal36

I also got the same email word for word. It's looks like a canned response but I will still feed the pups NB potato/duck or ones w/o fish meal. Diamond supplies many other pet food manufacters with their meal(s) products and I believe NB is one of them so I read the labels and try to avoid the ones that have fish meal in them. Another dog forum I subscribe to (PetLovers) also had some threads about the "E". If you are interested try a search on the dog forum.

I really like NB. Can't explain it...I just "feel" good about it.:rolleyes: The same goes for Innova. I'd probably stay away from the kinds with fish meal, but I don't think they would even be an issue. I hate ethoxyquin, but I don't know the amount that the ends up containing when the cooking process is over? The thing is, I think somebody isn't telling the absolute truth somewhere. If NB's suppliers ahve to use E, then don't all US fish suppliers? So then that is every dog food that contains fish in the US... But then do other US dog food companies that use fish have the same story about it being required?:confused: So then we are stuck with Canadian dog foods if we want them to be fish based (nothing wrong with that...just shouldn't have to feed a food made in another country...)???

So very confusing and really a hard decision...
Maybe somebody could ask NB how many ppm end up in the food after cooking (and maybe before cooking to compare)?

I will ask NB that question and post it on this thread when I get their reply.

I am interested to see their answer.

The NB rolls (I buy the little .99 cent ones for training treats) state: "ethoxyquin free" on the label...

The don't all have to use "E." If the fish is imported, it must contain an antioxident to prevent spoiling. There are alternatives, but they cost more (some use Rosemary and Vitamin E & mixed tocopherols). Also, if the fish is fresh, then there is also no need to add a preservative.

Another dog food manufacturer (I think it was Nature's Variety?) claims that the E is NOT destroyed in the cooking process. Who is right?

There is another thread with more discussion on this subject: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...thoxyquin.html

Here are two more threads:

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...r-threads.html

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...dog-foods.html

My understanding is that only fish intended for use in dog/pet food is treated with ethoxyquin, and some dog food manufacturers claim to use "human grade" and "fresh" fish -- presumably not treated with ethoxyquin.

The claim that ethoxyquin treatment is required by law confuses me too. This quote from the US Food and Drug Administration's website seems to contradict the claim. Also, see the last line concerning the amount of ethoxyquin that ends up in the food:

We were posting at the same time...you have better info -- thank you.

Yes, and Natural Balance's marketing of their meat rolls as ethoxyquin free is what finally motivated me to switch from NB kibble to another food.

I really like NB, but if E isn't a big deal, why promote one of their other products as being E-free? In Australia, all of NB kibble are touted as being E-free.

My boys ended up preferring the new kibble.

Originally Posted by Ellie May http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/ima...s/viewpost.gif
I really like NB. Can't explain it...I just "feel" good about it.:rolleyes: The same goes for Innova. I'd probably stay away from the kinds with fish meal, but I don't think they would even be an issue. I hate ethoxyquin, but I don't know the amount that the ends up containing when the cooking process is over? The thing is, I think somebody isn't telling the absolute truth somewhere. If NB's suppliers ahve to use E, then don't all US fish suppliers? So then that is every dog food that contains fish in the US... But then do other US dog food companies that use fish have the same story about it being required?:confused: So then we are stuck with Canadian dog foods if we want them to be fish based (nothing wrong with that...just shouldn't have to feed a food made in another country...)???

So very confusing and really a hard decision...
"Maybe somebody could ask NB how many ppm end up in the food after cooking (and maybe before cooking to compare)"?


Natural Balance's response

All our products come from the human food chain and are therefore in compliance with the FDA/USDA regulations. The safe levels for pet foods established by the governing agencies is at 150 ppm. We have tested our products for ethoxyquin levels. Ethoyquin in Natural Balance products are dependent on the particular variety and range at less than 5ppm. These amounts are much lower than the safe level established by the governing agencies for pet foods. Have a great day!

I do not if they actually answered the question suggested by Ellie May.

They didn't answer my question exactly, but came very close to it. I'm surprised they were willing to give how many ppm at all and I have to respect them for that. :) So maybe everyone that is concerned about "E", email the company and ask how many ppm. No answer, no feed. lol.