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What’s In Dentastix?
- 23/05/2017
When we investigated Dentastix and their ingredients, we noticed there was a massive difference between the UK label and the US label systems. US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), who governs US pet food labelling advises "proper listing of all the ingredients in the product in order from most to least, based on weight”.
However, the regulations in the UK are unfortunately much less restrictive. In the UK, pet food manufacturers don't have to list specific ingredients which leave a lot of 'hidden' ingredients. According to the Food Safety Agency (FSA) this practice "allows for fluctuations in the supply of the raw materials used and provides flexibility for labelling ingredients”. This makes life very easy for the big corporate pet food manufacturer but leaves consumers confused and in the dark.
What does ‘Meat and Animal Derivatives’ actually mean?
The link between Smoke Flavour and cancer in pets
Iron Oxide is a known skin irritant
Iron Oxide is a known skin and eye irritant that causes lung inflammation (11). This red food colouring is very cleverly hidden on Dentastix labels as a ‘mineral supplement’. In addition to Smoke Flavor, there are now recent concerns about the genotoxicity (cancer) risk posed by Iron Oxide (12). Dentastix makers at Pedigree state ingredients are “included for a specific purpose and provide a benefit to the dog”(13). However, there are contradictory studies that show Iron Oxide has no nutritional benefit in a dog’s digestive system (12).
‘Natural Poultry Flavor’ = no real meat
Natural Poultry Flavor is made from animal digest that has not yet undergone decomposition or rotting. The ‘digest’ is chemically treated with heat, acids and enzymes to produce the final concentrated flavour found in Dentastix. When you read between the lines on your current pet food labels, you may find that the end product does not contain any real or fresh meat at all. This clever trick used by big pet food manufacturers means that only a small amount of ‘chicken digest’ is needed to make a ‘chicken flavoured dog treat’ (14). As a ‘complementary’ product for your dog, pet food manufacturers do not have to ensure that Dental Chews contain any minimum percentage of real meat.
STPP use in dog treats and detergents
Sodium Tripolyphosphate (STPP) or E451 as it is more commonly known is the ingredient in Dentastix that carries out all of the teeth-cleaning action. However, it is well known as an offender in the ‘hidden ingredients’ tactics used by big food companies. STPP is used in dog food products as an artificial preservative, known chemically to help thicken mixtures (15). In studies on dogs, E451 caused a decrease in iron content in the bone, liver and spleen plus emesis (vomiting) [16]. STPP can also be found in household detergents, water softeners and tanning agents (17).
Potassium Sorbate used as preservative E202
Potassium Sorbate’s primary function in the pet food world is a preservative, its chemical name is more commonly known as E202. It works to reduce the growth of bacteria but is also a damaging skin, eye and respiratory tract irritant in dogs (18). Studies have shown that this E-number causes irreversible damage to blood cells, has a negative effect on immunity and has genotoxic (cancer-causing) characteristics (19,20) in humans alone.
You can view our full range of Dog Food Recipe and Dog Nutrition eBooks here ...
References
http://www.pfma.org.uk/labelling
http://www.pfma.org.uk/faqs/pet-food-ingredients
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/caring-for-a-dog-that-has-food-allergies#1
https://uk.pedigree.com/our-products/care/pedigree-dentastix-medium
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=501.2
http://www.nutri-vet.com/pages/FAQ.htm
https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/smoke-flavourings
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/afc070621
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/cef100108
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/genotoxic
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4482/full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3550222
https://uk.pedigree.com/about-us/facts-about-our-food
https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/ucm047113.htm
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14356007.a19_465.pub3/abstract;jsessionid=07870E7C6CF9379A41C2262997754095.f02t01
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+1099
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Sodium_tripolyphosphate
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2014.3792/abstract
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0887233309003853
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12176085
https://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/products/animalfoodfeeds/petfood/ucm2006475
https://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/farmingfood/animalfeed/animalfeedlegislation/pet-food
https://www.ariel.co.uk/en-gb/about-ariel/ingredients/laundrypedia-ingredients
https://www.pedigree.com/dog-foods/details/pedigree-dog-treats-dentastix-original-small-medium
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