Pet Food Additives

Several questions has been raised by manufacturers as well as pet owners regarding safety and practice of food additives for dogs and other pet animals. The additions of flavouring agents, spices and preservatives such as salt and sugar were often necessary to make the food both edible and safe to eat. The legal sanctioning of food additives in commercially prepared foods began in 1920, and has since became common in both human and animal foods. In last 40 years, the numbers of food additives has greatly increased. Food additives are substances purposely added to foods to provide a desirable characteristics: such as colour, flavour, texture, stability or resistance to spoilage.

Additives are being used in processed pet foods 

• Anti caking agents
• Anti microbial agents
• Anti oxidants
• Colouring agents
• Curing agents
• Drying agents
• Emulsifiers
• Enzymes agents
• Firming agents
• Flavouring agents
• Flavour enhances
• Flavour treating agents
• Formulation aids
• Humectants
• Leavening agents
• Lubricants
• Non nutritive sweetness
• pH control agents
• Processing aids
• Sequestrants
• Solvents & vehicles
• Stabilize & thickness
• Surface active agents
• Synergists
• Surface finishing agents
• Texturizers oxidizing and reducing agents
• Vitamins and minerals

Pet food additives can also be divided as nutrient food additives and non-nutrient food additives. Some of them are as follows:

Vitamins and Minerals 

Nutrient enrichment with vitamins and minerals is the most important additives used in commercial diets. Most of the dogs receive nourishment from these diets and because of this reason, commercial diets are designed to be completely balanced in the essential nutrients required for different life stages of dogs.

Preservatives 

Preservatives are the substances added to the food to slow down decay, discolouration or spoilage under normal use or storage. Preservatives and additives are often used as synonyms, but they are quite different. All preservatives are additive but all additives are not preservatives. These are several catogories of preservatives such as antioxidants, antimicrobials, etc. Because dog food contain fats, a stabilizer is needed to maintain the integrity of the food. Commercial pet foods are preserved with either synthetic or natural preservatives. Common preservatives include ethoxyquim, BHA (Butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (bytylated hydroxyl tolune), Vitamin E and Vitamin C. Ethoxiquin was earlier used as a rubber stabilizer and has also been effective as an insecticide and pesticide. It is the cheapest & most powerful preservative available. BHA and BHT are used in human food as well as dog foods. But it has history to be suspected as carcinogenic.

Some manufacturers have responded to consumer concern and are now using natural preservatives such as Vitamin C (Ascorbate), Vitamin E (only 2 tocopherol) and oils of rosemary, clove to preserve fats in their products. These is documented information available for their toxity, softy, interaction and chronic use in pet food. It is recorded the natural sources are more safe then synthetic. 

Soft moist foods and treats have a high moisture content, so an antimicrobial preservative is often added to prevent the growth of bacteria. Dry pet foods are more resistant to be spoiled by bacteria due to their low moisture content (6-10%). Semimoist foods have highermoisture content (25-50%) and must be added preservatives to reduce bacterial spoilage. 

Colouring agents 

Though artificial colours are probably useless for dogs. They are for owners visual sense. Dog never turn down to food because of colour. It is crude fact that dogs are colour blind. They cannot identify foods colour. But owners acceptability, colours are added in pet food. Natural colours includes carotinoids. Synthetic colours include iron oxide, tartrazine and nonazodyes. Sodium nitrate is used as well a colouring agent as preservative. Citranaxanthin, colouring agent widely used as a feed additive in poultry to impart yellow colour to chicken fat and egg yolk, is now being used in dog foods. These are also some agents which are not colouring agents but prevent discolouration of food like ascorbates. 

Enzyme 

Enzymes are relatively specific and react only with a specific molecule. These are more than 1300 enzymes known required for different molecule under specific conditions like temperature, pH etc., Co-enzymes are vitamin derivatives and essential for dog’s health. Co-enzymes help enzymes to activate or enhance their activity. Enzymes play vital role extend life span, eliminate excess weight problems, overcome illness and prevent several disease.

Enzymes are protein molecules and are also available in remarkable amount in fresh raw food used for dogs. But processing of food by heat or chemicals may denature these enzymes. If you are feeding 70% raw food to your dog, it means, you are feeding vital enzymes. The vital enzymes promote optimum health and digestion of dogs. 

Hazzards 

Some additives documented to cause problems in human beings are found in pet foods. These additives include azo dyes, BHA, tartrazine, sodium nitrate, sodium bisulfite, sodium alginate, sodium glutamate, spices and guar gum. Although food additives, particularly preservatives and dyes are used frequently can cause adverse effect. Ethoxyquin, a synthetic antioxidant, is considered by many scientist to be a cause of many problems in pure breed dogs, especially in skin and gastrointestinal tract. Ethoxyquin causes infertility and puppies’ death. It can also cause immune disorders, thyroid, pancreas and liver disorders. BHA and BHT are supposed to be carcinogenic in nature. So before using these additives, one should take care about dose and safety margin of particular additive.

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