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Home > argh! I hate waste! what do you think?

argh! I hate waste! what do you think?

September 3rd, 2010 at 10:01 am

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?

Posted in our doggies | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “argh! I hate waste! what do you think?”

  1. whitestripe Says:
    September 3rd, 2010 at 10:34 am 1283510075
    1283510075

    hmmmm good point. i think i would feel differently if it were me making the choice for myself. but i'm responsible for other beings health and i think that's why it bothers me so much.

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    September 3rd, 2010 at 11:44 am 1283514243
    1283514243

    I can tell that your gut says just to throw it out. I don't think you will regret it. Just look at the money lost as a lesson learned to read the packaging.

    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.

  3. pretty cheap jewelry Says:
    September 3rd, 2010 at 01:44 pm 1283521452
    1283521452

    be aware of your information sources too, is it an objective study? is it a long term study? has it been repeated by others and are the conclusions widespread.

    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.

  4. Toyguy1963 Says:
    September 3rd, 2010 at 05:42 pm 1283535777
    1283535777

    I don't think it will hurt to just use the meat. I just wouldn't buy it again. It is a waste to throw it out and its just not enough chemicals to really hurt anything anyhow.

  5. baselle Says:
    September 4th, 2010 at 05:51 am 1283579467
    1283579467

    I think we are talking about peace of mind here. If it will bother you for longer than a few weeks, I'd toss it and resolve to read those labels more closely in the future. However, there are 2 considerations:

    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.

  6. whitestripe Says:
    September 4th, 2010 at 06:05 am 1283580352
    1283580352

    baselle, good points. that is what DF and I have been discussing over the past day - We only feed our dogs about 1/2 cup of fresh meat each - whereas the rest of their daily diet is made up of one to one and a half cups of dry food a day (the premium variety with added nutrients). The amount of meat I bought them is enough to last about three weeks. And what you say is true, I can't find any indication on whether the studies have been for months or years or weeks - and things like this have a habit of appearing as sensationalised 'news' stories, made up by current affairs programs to gain ratings. maybe i over-reacted Big Grin the thing is, i have so many friends that feed their dogs those 'sausage' meat packs which have the same preservative (and a dozen others) every day. i guess because i heard about it from a colleague the day before i bought the meat, kind of freaked me out a bit. lol!

  7. baselle Says:
    September 5th, 2010 at 01:43 am 1283651037
    1283651037

    Final thoughts: you want to check to see whether you can even get pet food that doesn't contain sulfur dioxide. And humans, being bigger, will have fewer of those issues so assumed safe, so going to "human grade" food won't help. Sad to say, you might be throwing out food for an issue that you might not be able to avoid. Frown

  8. crazyliblady Says:
    September 6th, 2010 at 01:09 am 1283735368
    1283735368

    If I were you, I would call the dogs' veterinarian. Tell them about the additive and your concern for the dogs' health.

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