Acana Changes Food Ingredients!

[ImWithThePyr]

Originally Posted by Shotzi21

I did find the federal code last night. Was going to post it and got side tracked with something else and didn't boodmark it again. Anyway it did say somethimg about the temperature having to be taken numerous times during transport. So it really must blow if it gets too hot...lol. Anyway it also said "fish meal transported in bulk" (something to that effect) anyway whatever "bulk" means? Are bags still bulk? Or just loose fish meal is bulk? Who knows? I hate regulations...you need a lawyer to understand them. The pet shop I deal with said one of the manufacturers told her you have to have a special permit not to preserve with ethoxyquin...but who knows if that is truth or BS? One is for sure.....if mine didn't have allergies....there is no way I would be feeding a food with fish of any kind in it...it is just too stressful for me...lol. I would be buying fish from the grocery store and feeding it a couple times a week for the omegas.


Drew....I was just kidding about the email getting stuck at the border. Hopefully everyone on here will let all the petshops they deal with know, so the petshops can inform owners.

I have heard that too.

[Woofie]

Shotzi - I hear you, regarding the avoiding of foods with fish. Because dog foods in general are considered *animal food* products, I don't know if I can thoroughly trust any company simply throwing out the comment that they do not use fish preserved with Ethoxiquin. IMHO, a company can verbally state anything they want the consumer to hear; if it actually states it on the bag, then I'm much more likely to believe in them.

Same here, my dogs only get fish either freshly caught by us, or from sources at the healthfood store.

[Fipsi]

Thanks to this forum I first heard ot the change in ingredients to Acana's grain-free line, more importantly that the statement "ethoxyquin-free" was no longer on the new bags. I contacted the customer service at Champion Pet Foods and promptly received an answer. I hope I am allowed to post her mail. The representative told me to feel free to share the information with others:
"Thank you for your email and your concern. Our formulas are still preserved naturally and are ethoxyquin free.

Champion’s ingredients and foods are never preserved with Ethoxyquin, or any other chemical preservative.

Ethoxyquin is typically used as a preservative in fish ingredients, especially fish ingredients produced in the United States. Champion uses two kinds of fish ingredients in the production of our ACANA and ORIJEN foods – fresh fish, and fish meals.

FRESH FISH. Our fresh fish is caught wild within our region and arrives FRESH, which AAFCO defines as never frozen and with no preservatives what-so-ever, including Ethoxyquin. Our fresh fish never contain Ethoxyquin.

FISH MEALS. As Ethoxyquin preservatives are common in the fish meal supply chain, Champion works directly with our fish meal suppliers (no brokers or middlemen) and we pay a premium to have our fish meals preserved with our proprietary blend of Vitamin E and botanical extracts. Our fish meals are never preserved with Ethoxyquin.

Champion’s Ethoxyquin standard is set at true trace level, not to exceed 5 ppm (parts per million) of Ethoxyquin, which is 0.0005%, or one half of one thousandth of 1% – the lower limit of what most certified laboratories are able to detect or measure."

In a follow up mail she added:
"...only so much information will fit onto a bag and whenever we make changes much thought (and debate) goes into what to include on the bags. Please rest assured that our ingredients and preservation methods remain unchanged."

So apparently the decision to no longer include the "ethoxyquin-free" statement on the bag was just a bad marketing decision!

[Squeaksmom]

Remember, the part about having to have a special permit not to preserve with ethoxyquin is, as far as I know, an American law. Champion is a Canadian company.