The Truth About What’s Actually In Dentastix…

Denastix are a widely known dog treat that are recommended to be fed daily to help clean a dogs teeth. They are sold in most supermarkets and pet stores and are labelled as ‘vet approved’ and an all-round healthy treat.

So what’s the problem?

Well, In the UK, pet food manufacturers don’t have to list specific ingredients which leaves room for a lot of ‘hidden’ ingredients! The law states that it ‘allows for fluctuations in the supply of the raw materials used and provides flexibility for labelling ingredients”. This makes life very easy for the big corporate pet food manufacturer, but leaves consumers confused and in the dark.

Once you take a look at the ingredients list in Dentastix and break it down, it’s shocking as to what’s actually in them!….

Ingredients List: Meat & Animal Derivatives, Iron Oxide, Natural Poultry Flavour, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Potassium Sorbate.

What does ‘Meat and Animal Derivatives’ actually mean?

According to the Pet Food Manufacturing Association, ‘Meat and Animal Derivatives’ can come from leftover meat cuts such as lungs, claws, and heads that aren’t sold in UK supermarkets. Controlled by EU law, the label on your pet food can still be confusing. This allows suppliers to change what meat types (beef, pork, shellfish, rabbit etc.) goes into your dog’s treats – without telling you. This can create a whole range of problems for owners that have a dog with allergies.

Beef is one of the UK’s most common allergies in dogs, yet the current pet food labelling legislation allows this important information to be hidden from owners.

How can you know if your dog’s runny poo’s or itchy paws are related to their daily dental sticks when you don’t know what’s in them in the first place? Instead, most of the big-name brands like Mars (Pedigree) can only guarantee up to 4% meat in their dental sticks. This type of behaviour from companies that call themselves nutritionists would not be acceptable for your children, and we don’t think this is acceptable for our pets either.

Iron Oxide is a known skin irritant

Iron Oxide is a known skin and eye irritant that causes lung inflammation. This red food colouring is very cleverly hidden on Dentastix labels as a ‘mineral supplement’. In addition to Smoke Flavour, there are now recent concerns about the genotoxicity (cancer) risk posed by Iron Oxide.

Dentastix makers at Pedigree state ingredients are “included for a specific purpose and provide a benefit to the dog”. However, there are contradictory studies that show Iron Oxide has no nutritional benefit in a dog’s digestive system.

‘Natural Poultry Flavour’ = no real meat

Natural Poultry Flavour is made from animal digest that has not yet undergone decomposition or rotting. The ‘digest’ is chemically treated with heat, acids and enzymes to produce the final concentrated flavour found in Dentastix. When you read between the lines on your current pet food labels, you may find that the end product does not contain any real or fresh meat at all. This clever trick used by big pet food manufacturers means that only a small amount of ‘chicken digest’ is needed to make a ‘chicken flavoured dog treat’. As a ‘complementary’ product for your dog, pet food manufacturers do not have to ensure that Dental Chews contain any minimum percentage of real meat.

STPP use in dog treats and detergents

Sodium Tripolyphosphate (STPP) or E451 as it is more commonly known is the ingredient in Dentastix that carries out all the teeth cleaning action. However, it is well known as an offender in the ‘hidden ingredients’ tactics used by big food companies. STPP is used in dog food products as an artificial preservative, known chemically to help thicken mixtures. In studies on dogs, E451 caused a decrease in iron content in the bone, liver and spleen plus emesis (vomiting).

STPP can also be found in household detergents, water softeners and tanning agents.

(Paw and Simple.Dog)

How Rawhide Chews Are Made

First, the hides from the slaughterhouse are placed into a brine to help slow their decay (it doesn’t stop them from rotting … just slows the process a bit). The hides aren’t only from beef …they can be from any animal used in leather manufacturing.

1. Processing

The brined hides are shipped to tanneries, where the fat and hair are removed. This is done using chemicals like an ash-lye solution, or sodium sulphide liming, which is highly toxic.

Next the hides are treated with more chemicals that puff the hide, making it easier to split into layers. The outer layer of the hide is used to make leather goods like car seats, clothing, shoes, or purses. The inner layer is what’s used to make your dog’s rawhide (as well as other products like gelatin, cosmetics, and glue).

Next, this inner layer is washed and whitened using a solution of hydrogen peroxide, bleach or other stronger chemicals. This also helps remove the smell that’s developed from the now decayed, rotten leather. (Remember, the brine only slows the decay – it doesn’t prevent it.)

In 2017, the FDA announced a recall of rawhide chews from Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. They’d been processed using a quaternary ammonium compound mixture that’s an anti-microbial chemical approved for cleaning food processing equipment, but is not approved in the US for production of rawhide chews.

2. Coloring

Now it’s time to make the whitened sheets of this leathery by-product look like something delicious for your dog. That’s where the decorative process comes in.

Rawhide chews can be basted with flavors, or smoked … and dyed in different artificial colors. They may even be painted with titanium oxide, which makes them look white and attractive.

Chemicals used in this process may include toxic products. One of them is FD&C Red 40, a petroleum-based food dye that’s linked to behavior disorders like ADHD in children, as well as allergies and migraines.

3. Preserving

Once rawhide chews or rawhide bones have been made, they’re preserved with various chemicals. These can include formaldehyde or chromium salts. When rawhide chews have been tested, they’ve shown things like lead, arsenic, mercury and other toxic metals as well.

The rawhides are made into many shapes … rolls, bones, knots, braids, donuts and more. Manufacturers may also use different types of glues in making these rawhide shapes.

Why Is Rawhide Chew Bad For Dogs?

There are two big reasons rawhide is bad for dogs: the chemical processing described above, and the risk of choking or intestinal blockage.

Chemicals You’ve seen from the above description of how rawhide is made, that there’s not much that’s “natural” about rawhide for your dog. It’s a piece of useless leftover animal skin … bathed, soaked and colored with countless toxic chemicals.

Most rawhide treats are made outside the US (often in China). If you shop carefully, you might be able to find US-made rawhide chews that aren’t chemically treated. But rawhide is still bad for dogs.

Choking Or Blockage Chemicals aren’t the only reason rawhide is bad for dogs. Rawhide chews are very indigestible and can often lead to choking, or blockages in the digestive tract.

If your dog swallows large pieces of rawhide, they can get stuck in the oesophagus or lower in the digestive tract. It’s quite common for dogs to need emergency abdominal surgery to remove them from the stomach or intestines. Otherwise, these indigestible pieces can sit in the stomach for months without being digested.

This can cause digestive problems … and eventually create dangerous intestinal blockages. Eventually, these obstructions can lead to death if not removed.

Sometimes this type of blockage can be removed with endoscopy, but if the obstruction is too low in the digestive system, surgery is needed. So if you think your dog has swallowed a piece of rawhide that could be stuck, get to your vet quickly to avoid a potentially life threatening problem.

Is Dog Rawhide Good For Dental Health?

Rawhide manufacturers claim that chewing on rawhide helps clean and strengthen dogs’ teeth. But that’s not true. Rawhide chews start out hard, but as your dog chews, they get softer and develop a chewy, indigestible consistency. At that point, it’s not doing anything to help your dog’s teeth … but it’s still a big choking and intestinal obstruction risk for your dog.

Plus, even if rawhide chews were great for your dog’s teeth, they still wouldn’t be worth the risks. There are other ways to keep your dog’s teeth clean without posing a health risk.