Dog Community

What's the BHT issue?

Posted : 7/16/2006 11:45:29 AM

I have heard people say they won't give treats and food with BHT and some other B--. I just checked one of the treats I give Zoe and the very last ingredient (so there is not too much in it) is BHT and it says it is used as a preservative. Zoe gets a maximum of one of these treats a day, sometimes less. Is this that horrible? Her regular food does not have it. What is the issue with BHT?

shamrockmommy

Posted : 7/16/2006 12:31:13 PM

BHT and BHA have been linked to cancer, I think, plus it's a 'chemical' preservative and so not a healthy natural preservative.

I didn't used to have a problem with it until a recent Bil-Jac disaster (which they all are recovering from) so now I am against BHT/A for the most part.

I had asked Bil-Jac about BHA once and they said soemthing to the effect of in small amounts, BHA is beneficial since it acts as an antioxidant in the body.

sooner

Posted : 7/16/2006 12:52:39 PM

Fromhttp://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

BHA

Butylated Hydroxysanisole - a white, waxy phenolic antioxidant, C11H16O2, used to preserve fats and oils, especially in foods.

Banned from human use in many countries but still permitted in the US. Possible human carcinogen, apparently carcinogenic in animal experiments. The oxidative characteristics and/or metabolites of BHA and BHT may contribute to carcinogenicity or tumorigenicity.

BHT

Butylated Hydroxytoluene - a crystalline phenolic antioxidant, C15H24O, used to preserve fats and oils, especially in foods.

Banned from human use in many countries but still permitted in the US. Possible human carcinogen, apparently carcinogenic in animal experiments. The oxidative characteristics and/or metabolites of BHA and BHT may contribute to carcinogenicity or tumorigenicity.

Margaret Tyler

Posted : 7/16/2006 1:27:18 PM

I avoid treats and anything with BHA and BHT, even for myself. Most soft treats contain BHA and BHT, except Zukes treats [linkhttp://www.zukes.com.%C2%A0]www.zukes.com. [/link] All Pet Supply Plus's and alot of your small pet boutiques carry Zukes treat. They make awesome training treats. Also Natural Balance makes BHT, BHA - less sausage rolls that make great training treats after you cut them into little pieces. Most freeze dried liver training treats also do not contain BHT and BHA. Oh and Solid Gold makes training treats without BHA and BHT too.

papillon806

Posted : 7/16/2006 4:08:44 PM

I avoid it in dog food, but if it's in treats I don't have a problem with it since it is such small amounts. My pup really likes Lean Treats (soft) which have BHT in them.....but he gets them so sparsley I'm not worried.

M.W.Lewis

Posted : 7/16/2006 5:48:03 PM

I've even noticed (thanks to looking for BHT now) that it's in a lot of chewing gums for people (Orbit I think has it).

ronross

Posted : 7/16/2006 8:12:45 PM

As I understand it BHT/BHA are so prevalent in the processed food industry that you would be hard pressed to bring in not-raw ingredients that didn't use it. And label standards do not require a manufacturer to disclose ingredients that were in ingredients acquired from a third party. They only have to disclose BHT/BHA if they add it themselves. So it's possible a food that claims to have no artificial preservatives might in fact include acquired ingredients with artificial ingredients.

Is this really a problem? I doubt it. . . unless *any* commercially prepared food is fed too exclusively over time. Isn't the answer to minimize use of commercial food when possible, rotate it if it is used frequently, and supplement with sensible fresh foods, raw or cooked, as may come to hand?

Ron

dyan

Posted : 7/16/2006 9:21:17 PM

Good post Ron!