So, I just bought home 4kg of fresh kangaroo meat for our dogs. I diced it up (took about an hour - eugh) and packed it into daily portions and put it in the freezer.
Then as I was throwing the packaging in the bin, I noticed on the pack it said it contained Preservative 221. Having heard something from a co-worker about something like that, I Googled it.
And have now freaked myself out, and am about to throw it all in the bin.
I looked at a few sites and articles just to make sure this wasn't a one off thing, but basically this explains it all:
http://kb.rspca.org.au/Are-preservatives-in-pet-food-products-a-concern_312.html
Sulphur Dioxide is coded as 220-228, and seems to strip the food/body of Thiamine.
I talked to DF and read him the above article. DF said $23.80 isn't a big deal and to throw it out if I am at all worried, which I am.
But I hate waste too.
But our dogs health is more important than wasting $23. I guess I am disappointed that I was, first off, excited that I would be saving money (they never mentioned it had the preservative to me, but apparently they don't have to) and secondly, that it was going to be good for them. HA!
I'm not going to ask for a refund, because I should have read the packaging first. And I've already chopped it all up. A refund is out of the question.
The choice I need to make is feed it to them this one time, and hope it doesn't hurt, or throw it all out and find another supplier who doesn't use this, or find another source of human-consumption-grade meat that is approx the same price.
Really I think I am just going to throw it out. I mean ...If someone gave you a steak and said 'You can eat this, but it could do X, X and X to you', would you eat it? I think not. What gives me the right to do that to my pets???
What do you think?
Am I over-reacting?
argh! I hate waste! what do you think?
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:01 am
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:17 am 1283509035
Jerry
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:34 am 1283510075
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:44 am 1283514243
Unfortunately, I know all about the contents of diet coke, yet I still drink it. I wish I didn't though. I need to keep trying to beat that habit.
September 3rd, 2010 at 01:44 pm 1283521452
There are most certainly things affecting us that we don't even know about in the environment (ie air pollutants). I figure some day we will all be told that cow's milk has been causing cancer these past 100 years.
September 3rd, 2010 at 05:42 pm 1283535777
September 4th, 2010 at 05:51 am 1283579467
How many servings are you talking about? A lot of these nutrition deficiencies occur after months of feeding. A couple of meals, then a switch to something else or adding a doggie multi-vitamin (do they have them?) shouldn't cause a problem. After all, even the website you cited stated that a solution was "a varied diet". Which you'll do after or while you're working through the kangaroo meat.
How large are your dogs? One of reasons why cats would show a deficiency quicker is that they are smaller. If your dogs aren't chihuahuas, the body mass is a bit of a buffer.
September 4th, 2010 at 06:05 am 1283580352
September 5th, 2010 at 01:43 am 1283651037
September 6th, 2010 at 01:09 am 1283735368
September 8th, 2010 at 03:43 am 1283917409