Ethoxyquin
Ethoxyquin appears on 1 of the 2,354 pet food labels we have verified against the official product label — 0.0% of the corpus. That is 0 dog foods (0.0% of the dog corpus) and 1 cat foods (0.1% of the cat corpus), which makes it substantially more a cat-food ingredient than most discussion admits. Nobody publishes that split because computing it means reading every label.
What it is, and why it is in the food
A synthetic antioxidant historically used to preserve fats, often in fish-meal ingredients. Regulatory positions diverge: the EU suspended its authorization as a feed additive in 2017 after EFSA could not conclude on its safety, citing an overall lack of data, a possibly mutagenic impurity (p-phenetidine), and a potentially genotoxic metabolite. In the U.S. it remains an approved feed additive, and its maximum level in complete dog food was later lowered to 75 ppm on a voluntary basis. Definitive evidence of harm to dogs at permitted levels is not established.
The evidence is mixed. Studies disagree, and the honest summary is that the answer depends on context that a label cannot tell you.
How common it is, and where it sits on the label
Ingredients are listed by pre-cooking weight, so position carries information: something in the first five is present in bulk, something near the end is a trace addition. Ethoxyquin is in the first five ingredients on none of the 1 foods that contain it, which tells you it is added in small quantities in every case.
| Cut | Foods | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Dog foods | 0 | 0.0% of the dog corpus |
| Cat foods | 1 | 0.1% of the cat corpus |
| Dry food | 1 | 100% of foods containing it |
| In the first five ingredients | 0 | 0% of foods containing it |
Every food that contains it, cheapest calories first
Ranked by cost per 1,000 kcal, which is the only price basis that survives different bag sizes and moisture levels. 1 of the 1 foods containing ethoxyquin have a matched price; the rest are verified but unpriced.
| Food | Species | Form | Protein (DM) | Cost / 1,000 kcal | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meow Mix Original Choice | Cat | dry | 34.1% | $0.90 | Check price |
| Item | Value (%) |
|---|---|
| Dog foods | 0.0% (0) |
| Cat foods | 0.1% (1) |
| Dry (of those with it) | 100% (1) |
| In the first 5 ingredients | 0% (0) |
Comparable foods that do not list it
Most people searching an ingredient name want the other half of the answer: what to buy instead. These are verified dry cat foods — the same species and form as most of the foods above, so the comparison is like for like — that do not list ethoxyquin anywhere in their ingredients, cheapest per 1,000 kcal first.
Avoiding one ingredient is rarely a good reason to switch on its own. Use this table the way you would use any other single filter — alongside the AAFCO statement, the protein figure and the recall record, all of which are on each food's page.
What we don’t know
Our figure counts what manufacturers print. An ingredient that arrives inside another component — a preservative already in the fish meal, say — does not have to be declared separately by the pet-food maker, so a count from labels is a floor, not a ceiling. We also cannot see inclusion rate: a label tells you ethoxyquin is present and roughly where it sits by weight, never how much.
The specific gap for preservatives is carry-over. A preservative added by a supplier to a component — most commonly to fish meal, before it ever reaches the pet-food plant — does not have to be declared by the pet-food maker. So a preservative-free ingredient list is evidence about the manufacturer’s own additions and nothing more. We do not translate any of this into a score. There is no honest way to weigh one ingredient against a food’s AAFCO substantiation, its recall history and its cost, and sites that do it anyway are making the weighting up.
Sources
- EFSA — Ethoxyquin: EFSA safety assessment inconclusive (news release; EU suspended authorization 2017) (2015)
- Ethoxyquin: An Antioxidant Used in Animal Feed (International Journal of Food Science, peer-reviewed review) (2013)
- Prevalence figures: Verified Pet Food Data corpus, 2,354 labels verified against official product labels. Machine-readable, CC BY 4.0.
Related ingredients
-
Mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E)
On 1,172 labels (49.8%). Well supported.
-
Rosemary extract
On 600 labels (25.5%). Well supported.
-
BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole)
On 12 labels (0.5%). Contested.
-
BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene)
On 4 labels (0.2%). Neutral.
Frequently asked
How common is ethoxyquin in pet food?
It appears on 1 of the 2,354 pet food labels we have verified — 0.0% of the corpus. That breaks down as 0 dog foods (0.0%) and 1 cat foods (0.1%).
Is ethoxyquin a main ingredient or a minor one?
It effectively never appears in the first five ingredients — on none of the 1 foods that contain it. It is added in small amounts, so its position on the label tells you little about the food overall.
Is ethoxyquin bad for dogs or cats?
A synthetic antioxidant historically used to preserve fats, often in fish-meal ingredients. Regulatory positions diverge: the EU suspended its authorization as a feed additive in 2017 after EFSA could not conclude on its safety, citing an overall lack of data, a possibly mutagenic impurity (p-phenetidine), and a potentially genotoxic metabolite. In the U.S. it remains an approved feed additive, and its maximum level in complete dog food was later lowered to 75 ppm on a voluntary basis. Definitive evidence of harm to dogs at permitted levels is not established.
Which foods do not contain ethoxyquin?
Among verified dry cat foods with a matched price, Rachael Ray Nutrish Rachael Ray® Nutrish™ Dry Cat Food Real Salmon & Brown Rice Recipe, IAMS PROACTIVE HEALTH Healthy Adult with Chicken, IAMS™ PROACTIVE HEALTH™ HEALTHY ADULT WITH SALMON are the cheapest per 1,000 kcal that do not list it. The full table is on this page.
All 35 ingredients we found on a real label are indexed on the ingredient hub. To see how these fields are read off a label in the first place, start with how to read a pet food label.