Ethoxyquin

Ethoxyquin is a synthetic antioxidant that was historically used to preserve fats in pet food and feed, most notably in fishmeal, where it prevents the highly unstable fish oils from oxidising and even from self-heating during transport and storage. It is the most controversial of the antioxidant preservatives, and its regulatory story sets it apart from [BHA](/glossary/bha) and [BHT](/glossary/bht). In the European Union, the authorisation of ethoxyquin as a feed additive was suspended, with EFSA concluding that the available data were insufficient to fully rule out concerns about its safety and that of one of its metabolites (EFSA, 2015; EU additive regulation). A complicating factor for buyers is that ethoxyquin used to be added at the fishmeal source rather than by the pet-food manufacturer, so it could be present in a finished food without appearing on the label, which fuelled much of the consumer suspicion around it. Today, premium brands routinely advertise their foods as ethoxyquin-free and lean instead on natural systems such as mixed [tocopherols](/glossary/tocopherols) and rosemary extract. The ethoxyquin episode is a useful illustration of how regulatory caution and consumer pressure together reshape which preservatives the industry uses. On a label, its presence or, more commonly now, its explicit absence is a recognised positioning point. See the [Petipedia glossary](/glossary).

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