Update: Chicken Soup & the Cancer-causing preservative
 

Ok, so some of you know that I was freaking out yesterday because I had read here that Chicken Soup dog food was no longer 5-star rated (now it's 3-star) on this website because they say it contains Ethoxyquin, a chemical preservative that is banned or heavily regulated because it is believed to be carcinogenic. Well, I was a little confused because this preservative is not listed anywhere on the ingredients list. So, to get to the bottom of this "rumor" I called the manufacturer Diamond Pet Foods this morning and expressed my concerns. They told me that they have no idea how this rumor got started but that many people were calling inquiring about it. They said that they have run many tests on their food in light of this rumor and there are NO traces of this preservative Ethoxyquin in any of their foods.

So, now I guess the big question is, do you think that they are telling the truth? :confused:

Maybe we should now contact the company that rates the dog food to ask them for more detailed information.

Thanks for contacting Diamond!

I agree....we need to contact the people who rate these foods and see why they think this preservative is in Chicken Soup. Any idea how in the world to go about doing that? :confused: I'm wondering if people rate other foods bad to increase sales of certain foods. :confused: It's always a possibility. :rolleyes:

That is always a possibility. I'll try to look around before I head off to work. If I find some contact info I'll post it up.


Edit... Hmm on the dog food analysis website they say the manufacturer confirmed that the fish meal is preserved with ethoxyquin... I'm not sure why they would confirm it to the analysis company but not to the public.

Thanks!!!!!!! If you can get some contact info I don't mind calling. Do you feed Chicken Soup?

I found an e-mail address: contact@dogfoodanalysis.com

I just recieved a sample from them and I started trying it out on Kona and Bernie. Kona is a very picky eater and this was finally something she would eat without me having to mix it with wet food.

I know what you mean....I tried 6 or 7 different foods and Chicken Soup is the only one they would eat without me hand feeding them!

I am going to email them. Maybe EVERYONE should email them and ask them who reviews the foods and how they came up with the fact that Chicken Soup contains this preservative.

I agree... I have a picky eater too, but they don't sell this locally...I'm still shopping around because shipping for this is usually the price of one bag! Keep us posted on the results of this rumor!

Ok, here is the email I sent to the dog food reviews people:

I was just wondering who reviews the dog foods on your website???? I was surprised to see that Chicken Soup has been moved from 5 stars down to 3 stars. It says that the reason for this is that it contains Ethoxyquin, a chemical preservative that is banned or heavily regulated because it is believed to be carcinogenic. Of course I was very disturbed by this since I feed my dogs Chicken Soup. I was also confused because this preservative is not listed on the ingredients list, yet you say it was confirmed by the manufacturer that their food contains this ingredient. So, I decided to call Diamond Pet Food myself. They said that none of their pet foods contain this preservative and that they have no idea how this rumor got started. They have tested their foods and no traces of this preservative have been detected.

I am obviously a concerned pet owner. I will gladly switch foods, but I would like to get to the bottom of this. Could you please tell me how you discovered this preservative is in Chicken Soup dog food??

I look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Sincerely,
A concerned customer


Maybe if a lot of people emailed them, then at least one of us would get a response. I don't care if EVERYONE uses this exact same email. It would be quick and easy to just copy my email and send it.

I sent them an e-mail.... I saved time and used yours :) Great e-mail!

Excellent! Thanks! There are better odds of us getting a response if more people send one, you know? It's fine with me if everyone uses my email :thumbup:

If I read the first thread correctly, the substance of concern was allegedly used in the bone meal. Do we know what all is in the bone meal? I would think all Diamond has to do is list the bone meal, not what is in the bone meal unless they manufactured the bone meal. Who knows where all the different ingredients are obtained from, what processing they go through before everything is mixed together. I too would want to contact the company who conducted the rating change and find out what evidence they have on which to base their allegations. I doubt Diamond would admit something outright, but they might very well start obtaining bone meal from a different source!

The preservative is supposedly used in the fish meal. Diamond said this morning when I called them that they had run tests on their food to detect this preservative and all tests came back negative. They said that they contacted their "supplier" (I think that's what they said) to see what they had to say about it. They were supposed to be receiving something in writing from their "supplier" to confirm whether ot not this is in the fish meal. I asked them if they would be posting this document anywhere so I can confirm for myself whether or not this is used. I am going to call them back tomorrow morning and see if they have received this "documents" in writing yet and see what else they have to say about it.

If anyone else wants to call Diamond, their number is 573-229-4203. If anyone else contacts them, please let us know what they have to say to you and if it is the same story I got or not.

snopes
 

has anyone tried to chase this rumor on Snopes.com? i will do that later today. i have been fortunate to find the holistic Eagle Pack food in my area and all my guys love it.

I just searched Snopes. Nothing about this preservative or Chicken Soup and cancer. However, it did bring up Diamond's recall of dog food a while back.

Update!!!!!!!!
 

I just received this email from the folks at Diamond Pet Foods:

Dear Rebecca:

We appreciate your business and would like to reassure you that your future purchases will be safe for your pets.

We have received a written guarantee from our supplier that the ocean fish meal that we are using in our Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul formulas is preserved only with natural preservatives (a blend of vitamin E and rosemary). No ethoxyquin is being used to preserve this ingredient.

Sincerely,

Dr. Melissa Brookshire

Director of Veterinary Services

Diamond Pet Foods

Meta, Missouri

573-229-4203 Office

573-229-4655 Fax

MBrookshire@diamondpet.com



Does this mean that it's ok?!!!!!!! YIPPEE!!!!!!!

I am relieved now that I have this in writing. At least now, if my beloved yorkies come down with cancer, Diamond Pet Foods is going DOWN!

guess so... now guys HELP ME find a online retailer that is not so expensive on shipping!!! Doesn't anyone offer free shipping anymore!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHhh

I have sent an e-mail to the food analysis company also. I would really like to get to the bottom of this also since Bella and Gizmo love the Chicken Soup I just bought for them. Although I have no problem switching them to Innova or Canidae. Hhhmmmm...I sense some shadiness going on here

I got a response from Diamond Pet Foods. I think we're good to go. No need to switch. Here is what they said:


Dear Rebecca:

We appreciate your business and would like to reassure you that your future purchases will be safe for your pets.

We have received a written guarantee from our supplier that the ocean fish meal that we are using in our Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul formulas is preserved only with natural preservatives (a blend of vitamin E and rosemary). No ethoxyquin is being used to preserve this ingredient.

Sincerely,

Dr. Melissa Brookshire

Director of Veterinary Services

Diamond Pet Foods

Meta, Missouri

573-229-4203 Office

573-229-4655 Fax

MBrookshire@diamondpet.com

I sent an e-mail, too

Everyone else that sent an email, please let us know what they tell you! I'm curious if it's the same thing. Thanks! :p

Thanks!! You are sooooo fabulous for keeping us informed. I would still like to hear a response from the food analysis company. I'll post it if they respond to my e-mail. I am sure they have a lot of explaining to do. Maybe I sense some shadiness on their part????:thumbdown

Oh I definately sense some shadiness on the review site. I tried to post a "reply" to their review, but it wouldn't let me. It says that they aren't registering any new members. The email I got from Diamond Pet Foods, I forwarded to the food analysis people and told then that they needed to change their info on their website IMMEDIATELY because it was false. I guess we'll just wait and see what happens. :rolleyes:

My Chicken Soup is the puppy formula. The fish/bone meal is not listed as an ingredient, just "salmon". The package says something to the effect of "all natural preservatives". Perhaps not all of the formulas use the same ingredients?

Sorry this is kinda long
 

I received this from the Dogfoodanalaysis people:

Thank you for your email.

With regard to Chicken Soup dog food, there have been several changes to
their formulas over the past couple of months. It is our opinion,
irrespective of the Ethoxyquin issue, that those changes represent a
downgrade of the food and it is no longer of sufficient quality to meet
our standard for a 5-star rating. You can compare the current product with
the previous product (which is now located in the discontinued section of
the site).

As for the Ethoxyquin issue, the "rumour" was started by written
correspondance with Diamond pet foods in which they confirmed the presence
of fish meal preserved with Ethoxyquin. Note that this is different to
adding ethoxyquin to the food themselves: they are required to disclose
the presence of the chemical in the latter case only.

Diamond has since (today) advised in email correspondance that they have
recieved a verbal guarantee (to be followed by a written guarantee) that
their supplier will be using naturally occuring preservatives to stabilize
the fish meal.

We are currently considering whether or not we can have sufficient
confidence in that statement to review our assessment of the food.
Naturally, we would prefer a public statement on the packaging or website
that guarantees the use of ethoxyquin-free ingredients. The statement
added yesterday merely advises that they don't add chemical preservatives
in the manufacturing process. As mentioned earlier, those are two very
different things.

We hope we will have cause to review our rating in the near future. In the
absence of that confidence, however, we cannot recommend the food.

Regards
The Dogfoodanalysis team.
__________________________________________________ ____

So, I responded to the Chicken Soup people with this:

Melissa,

Thank you very much for responding to my inquiry. However, I am still somewhat concerned and I am hoping you can relieve my concerns completely. I sent an email to the website that was claiming that there was Ethoxyquin being used to preserve the fish meal in the Chicken Soup products. Here is their reply to me:

(for the sake of space, I copied and pasted the email I received fromt he Dogfoodanalysis people here)

Is there any way at all that your company can make a public statement or confirm in writing, preferably on your website or to me personally via email, that you guarantee the use of ethoxyquin-free ingredients? For my own sake, I would really just like to see the written guarantee from your supplier. Is there anyway you can email it to me? I'm sorry I'm being difficult. My dogs really really LOVE your product and I would be very sad if I had to change, but I just cannot risk feeding them something that could potentially harm them.

Thank you for understanding and I look forward to hearing back from you.
___________________________________________

Now, I'm just waiting to see what they say now! :rolleyes:

This is what I received back from Diamond Pet Food. Sounds perfectly ligit to me. I'm going to keep using the Chicken Soup! :thumbup:
_______________________________________________

I have added the definition of ocean fish meal (including the fact that it is preserved naturally by our supplier) to our website, on the Ingredients page.

We have made some changes and these changes were made to improve the quality, not downgrade the quality. We replaced turkey meal with ocean fish meal. The ocean fish meal supplies DHA and EPA to the diet, vital omega-3 fatty acids, as well as being an excellent source of protein. We still use 4 fresh meats, multiple whole grains, fruits and vegetables. The formulas all contain the same levels of protein and fat that they always have. We added blueberries and spinach to our fruit and vegetable blend. We are now adding probiotics and enzymes for better digestive health and tomato pomace as a natural fiber source for ideal stool quality.

We did not have a guarantee from our supplier that the ocean fish meal was naturally preserved when we first made the changes to the formula and that is why I communicated to some concerned customers that the fish meal was being preserved with ethoxyquin but the finished product contained low residual levels. Due to the volume of customer concern, we worked very quickly with our supplier to secure a source of ocean fish meal that is preserved naturally. Our formulas have always been preserved naturally and still are being preserved naturally. Now we can say with confidence that all of our ingredients that contain preservatives are also being preserved naturally.

Sincerely,

Dr. Melissa Brookshire

Director of Veterinary Services

Diamond Pet Foods

Meta, Missouri

573-229-4203 Office

573-229-4655 Fax

MBrookshire@diamondpet.com

The site condemning Chicken Soup has added a few things. If you're happy with Chicken Soup, I would continue feeding it.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_f...duct=907&cat=5

Here's my letter from Diamond:

Thank you for your inquiry. All of the Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul products are preserved naturally. All of the meat and fish ingredients are also preserved naturally, even the ocean fish meal which is stabilized with vitamin E and rosemary.

I got another email from the dog food analysis people. They say that they are going to amend their review of this food. :thumbup: :thumbup:

Apparently, at least SOME of the chicken soup dog food contained this preservative. They changed their formula slightly within the last few weeks which caused this preservative to be in there. However, in light of the recent upheaval concerning this preservative, Chicken Soup has now changed their formula again so this preservative will no longer be in their product! :thumbup: So, I guess we are good to go!

Here is the email:

Thank you for that, and the link to the updated statement on their website
:) It's very helpful.

On that basis of that statement, we should be able to make amendments to
the reviews of the product.
We would just note one thing though, that may be of concern to you if you
have purchased the product recently. And that is that it is only food made
from this time forward that is ethoxyquin-free. Statements made by the
company within the last few days that confirmed the presence of ethoxyquin
would mean that any of their new formula produced up until now contained
the chemical (at least, food produced since fish meal was added to the
food). That is a relatively small window of time, of course - the formula
containing ocean fish was first advertised on their site within the past
couple of weeks.

The formulas have undergone two changes recently: but the "new" formulas
immediately prior to the most recent did not contain fish meal. The
original chicken soup formulas likewise did not contain fish meal.

Hopefully there will be no further changes in the near future!

Regards
The Dogfoodanalysis team.

I tend to believe the dogfood site. They did add the extra comments about the food. Sooo I don't know what to do now. I don't know much about the food and finding this site has been great to compare.I still plan on doing some more research tho. Thanks for all the help. Maybe now IF ethoxyquin was used the will make an effort to see that they don't use it anymore.


Michelle