Really? Peanut Butter?

by Sandy Phillips

Well, it happened again; we have another dog in the family with cancer. After eight years of a holistic diet, no pesticides, holistic cleaning products, and still cancer, ugh. I suppose the upside is that the oncologist tells us that he was very likely pre-dispositioned. It was inevitable; however, the onset was very likely delayed because of his healthy lifestyle. The diagnosis has made me dig deeper into things we can do to stack the odds in favor of our dogs living long healthy lives. I’m always looking for tips to help my dogs. After all, my first Labrador/Chesapeake lived to the age of 14 and only had arthritis creep in during his last year; when it hit, it hit hard, so the next dog in my life had fewer joint issues, as I was now alerted to early signs of joint problems. I think each dog in my life lives a bit better than the previous one because I have learned.

I graduated from college with a science degree and have had a great deal of holistic training from some of the countries leading holistic vets, a privilege from a job I held in the past and one that has helped shape the lives of my dogs. While diet, toxic environmental exposure and perhaps over vacciation still seem to be leading causes of canine cancer, I found an interesting topic truly worth bringing to your attention— Peanut Butter. If you follow Delmarva Unleashed, you already know that peanut butter with the ingredient Xylitol is extremely toxic to our dogs. We have encouraged you to read the peanut butter label for years, but now I’m going to suggest that you take a closer look at peanut butter as I have. Peanut butter contains something I have run test for thousands of times and yet not something I equated with peanut butter until now; aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring mycotoxin or mold, and it is one of the most carcinogenic substances known to man. In many cases, it impacts the liver. The FDA Bad Bug Book cites the following: “Aflatoxins are toxic substances produced by some kinds of fungus that can grow on food. People who eat food that contains high levels of aflatoxins can become sick. To date, there has never been a human illness outbreak caused by aflatoxins in the US, where foods are carefully regulated and inspected to prevent such an occurrence, but some developing countries have had outbreaks. One of the aflatoxins is among the strongest known carcinogens (substances that cause cancer). Scientists have pinpointed a site where this aflatoxin appears to cause a mutation in human DNA. Aflatoxins can lead to liver and immune‐system problems. The combination of hepatitis B infection and eating foods contaminated with aflatoxin appears to make the risk of liver cancer especially high. Foods in which aflatoxins commonly are found (unless regulations and inspections prevent it, as in the US) include corn, sorghum, rice, cottonseed, peanuts, tree nuts, dried coconut meat, cocoa beans, figs, ginger, and nutmeg. Aflatoxins can cause illness in animals, and contaminated pet foods caused outbreaks and deaths among US dogs and cats in 1998 and 2005.” You can never totally get away from aflatoxin; we consume food with “acceptable levels.” You may even find some level in organic peanut butter. That all being said, the FDA Bad Bug Book also states this: “Aflatoxin does not form in peanut butter once it is packed in containers, so if the production process is safe, then the final product will be too when it reaches the consumer.” Keep in mind that they also approve a wide variety of kibbles as “healthy” for our dogs. Did you know that peanuts are and OWL food? Oats, Wheat, and Legumes (OWL) are plants typically desecrated with glyphosate right before harvest. According to the Holistic Home Economist, farmers even use it on non-GMO fields because of the ongoing battle against superweeds, weeds that have evolved due to GMO plants and pesticides. When they take their harvest to market, they are paid less for a large percentage of “weed,” all impacting the farmer’s pocket. It’s been going