Dangerous Additives and Preservatives

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Ferrets - Safety

Dangerous Additives and Preservatives

Your ferret's food is composed of many extra ingredients, or additives, as well as the basic nutritional components needed to sustain him. Additives perform many functions ranging from preserving the freshness and nutritional value of the food to improving its taste, appearance and smell.

You will find it essential to investigate the formulation of your pet food if your ferret develops allergies, skin problems, gastrointestinal problems or chronic flea infestations. Some experts suspect that these can be associated with food additives or with nutritional deficiencies.

The additives that are listed as dangerous below are only suspected to be dangerous to your pet's health. They are not proven to be harmful. The veterinary branch of the FDA checks into pet food additives closely only if there have been numerous complaints about a particular chemical. There are well over 8,000 different kinds of additives in pet food, so the time and manpower that testing all pet food additives, in all their various forms and combinations, would take has so far been cost and time prohibitive.

Common Additives to Watch For

Artificial Colors

Most pets are unaffected by the color of their food. They would calmly eat gray food, unlike humans. There are hundreds of different food dyes on the market, with more being tested all the time. While there are many that have not been adequately tested yet, several kinds have been flagged as potentially producing harmful effects. These dyes include: Blue 1 and 2, Green 3, Red 3, 4 and 40, Citrus Red 2, Yellow 5, Sunset Yellow or Yellow 6 and Violet 1.

The negative effects of these chemicals range from personality changes and allergic reactions to tumors of the bladder, thyroid and kidneys. In addition, these substances linger inside your ferret's body and are hard to break down. Complaints to pet food manufacturers about permanent carpet stains are also not uncommon. The red or orange dyes sometimes seep into carpet fibers as pets vomit up their food or drag a little piece here or there to enjoy a quiet treat away from their usual feeding spot.

Artificial Flavors

Many of the artificial flavors used in pet foods are actually derived from natural flavors like cinnamon or clove oil, which are used to simulate another flavor or enhance an existing one. But there are other purely chemical flavors that are truly artificial, and these are the substances that can cause harm to your ferret. Benzaldehyde, formerly used as a pesticide and a solvent, is now used for artificial cherry and almond flavors.

One of the biggest concerns of artificial flavoring is that it causes allergies in pets and weakens the immune system against the onset of further allergies. Studies done on children in the 70s show artificial coloring and flavoring provoke hyperexcitability and other personality disorders. Imagine what the same chemicals can do to your exceedingly vulnerable pet.

MSG

MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is used for the same purpose in animal food as it is in human food. MSG enhances the flavor, making food more appealing to your pet. There are so many negative reports on MSG that many people refuse to eat it, but never think about checking their pet food labels to see whether it is included in the products they feed their pets.

Some of the reported effects of MSG are: abdominal pain, irritability, nervousness, rapid heartbeat, numbness of extremities and hyperactivity.

Check your ingredient labels for this substance. Flavoring in your food can be safely and naturally enhanced by the addition of soy sauce or beef bullion. Also, beware of hydrolyzed vegetable protein. This item often contains MSG, but MSG is not listed as an added ingredient on the label.

Sodium Nitrite

This chemical is also listed as an additive preservative because it acts as a flavor enhancer as well as a preservative. Sodium nitrite is dangerous because it can lead to the formation of nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic. Sodium nitrate also depletes the supply of vitamin A in your ferret's body, a crucial element in the daily upkeep of your pet's health. Some animals are also allergic to these chemicals. Symptoms of an allergic reaction include dizziness, panting and wheezing, disinterest in food and nausea.

To avoid this additive, read the labels on canned and semi-moist foods. The FDA requires the food manufacturer to list all contents of ferret food on the ingredient label in descending order of weight. Never feed your ferret any bacon or pork products. As well as hazards presented by sodium nitrite, pork fat globules are larger and can cause serious artery blockage.

Ash Content

You probably already know that ash content is an undesirable thing in your pet's food. There has been plenty of media coverage on ash content in recent years, and most of it is negative. Ash content refers to the amount of inorganic material that is left over in your pet's food after all the organic elements, like chicken, are removed. Ash content is composed mostly of minerals like magnesium, potassium and sodium salts. Ferrets are particularly sensitive to ash in their diets.

Ash content is thought to be the cause of a variety of urinary problems in pets, but recent research has shown it may simply be the magnesium content that is the problem. Because of this, most pet food companies now list magnesium content separately. Still, a low-ash diet is the healthiest for your pet. A high ash content is not only a detriment to your pet's health, but it means more space taken up by inorganic 'waste' products, and less space can be devoted to nutritional food content. Ideally, ash content should be around 3.5%, but it can be as high as 6.5% before it becomes a true health concern. Read the labels on your bags of pet food. Ash content in food should be displayed on the ingredient listing.

Fillers

Fillers are the parts of pet food with little or no nutritional value. They are put into the food as a cost-effective way to take up space. These are usually the parts of grains left over on the threshing floor after the nutritional segments of grain are processed for human consumption. Products used as fillers in food include: corn gluten meal, peanut hulls, wheat shorts, powdered cellulose or sawdust, soybean meal and beet pulp.

None of these products offer your pet meaningful nutrition. Peanut hulls and powdered cellulose have zero nutritional value. They are pure filler and do your pet about as much good as eating cardboard! All of products can cause intestinal blockage and other problems, so it is best to avoid them by selecting a well-made food that either does not use these products or at least does not include them in the first 5 or 6 ingredients.