Following on from my previous thread regarding colourant additives in cat food, I emailed Butchers for more details as my cats are showing surprising enthusiasm for the classic tins.
Response as following...
There are 4 types of caramels permitted as food additives. They are as follows:---
E150a : Plain caramel
E150b : Caustic sulphite caramel
E150c : Ammonia Caramel
E150d : Sulphite ammonia caramel

We use E150c which is Ammonia Caramel and according to the suppliers specification there is no presence of sulphite.
Our Classic cat foods do not contain any carbohydrate as they are all meat pet foods in hydrocolloid based jelly.
I also asked about carb content as one of mine is diabetic and I see sugars listed on the ingredients list that Hobbs posted.
A-Z of wet food for cats

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Nellie Paddy Mitzy Milo Peggy Murphy

Millie and Monty, the White Devils!

I saw some six packs of Butcher's Classic in my local supermarket the other day and thought I might try it but then had second thoughts when I opened the pack and read the tins. which stated in the additives section that it contained cassia gum and natural colours being " iron oxide " . Even though iron oxide is an " E ", I can't help thinking of it as being the chemical name for rust and I think I read somewhere that it is banned in Germany. ( perhaps Hobbs will add some info here ) Didn'i see caramel mentioned I'm in Ireland so maybe that has something to do with it ?

Hello there! You seem to have a more detailed list of additives than we do - unfortunately UK regulations are a little behind but that is all going to change a little soon. Only small changes, but babystep will hopefully eventually take us to more transparent food labels.

Anyhow, I don't think that iron oxide is banned in Germany - it is a food colourant (which makes the food a meaty brown colour). It apparently also gets used as a cheap mineral (to bump the iron content of the food). And I guess you could get it from rust.

Could well be that they substituted the caramel (E150c) in Ireland with the iron oxide for a similar brown colour across batches. Lovely!

The cassia gum is to create the gel I should imagine.

so what would be your comment regarding the 'ammonia caramel' Hobbs?

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Nellie Paddy Mitzy Milo Peggy Murphy

Millie and Monty, the White Devils!

I am not sure what to think PP. Isn't it the ammonia-based one that was implicated in the latest report about toxicity, albeit at high levels? It certainly seems to contain the 4-methylimidazole that Ibbica was talking about on the other thread: European Union Directive 95-45: E150a, E150b, E150c, E150d | D. D. Williamson. But I am not an expert on the minutae of food additives. Perhaps Ibbica will know

However, it is perhaps wise to keep it in perspective as they will be using very low levels as their food colouring. I wonder whether they will be an example of having to be declared in more specific ways in the future or whether they are deemed safe enough in the levels being used in pet food manufacturer.

Problem I have with this statement is that the most recent concern over caramel colouring (E150d is the stuff in Coke) actually isn't sulfites... it's that there are carcinogenic compounds produced by reaction of sugars with ammonia.

To be fair, part the problem with the colouring in Coke is that the colouring (and potentially-carcinogenic by-products of its production) is present in quite high concentrations. It's possible that the concentrations are considerable lower in catfood, and as they say "the dose makes the poison". Nevertheless, it is wise to be wary of anything added to a food product for the sole purpose of improving its appearance.

ETA: *lol* hit < enter > and then saw Hobbs' post. I have to be off for a bit, but will probably try to look up the sciencey details later tonight

Just a link to my source of iron oxide being " banned in Germany " although it seems to have EU approval generally.....E172 : IvyRose Holistic : Food Additives approved by EU : E Numbers : Colouring / Colourings : E172........ and ....E-number E172 Iron oxides / hydroxides | One e-number guide

Hello, I really don't think the info in that link is correct re iron oxid (eisenoxid) being banned as a colourant in Germany. The link will be meaningless if you don't speak German but this database lists it as a permitted colourant: Gefahrstoff-Datenbank

I can also find plenty of cat foods sold in Germany that contain eisenoxid as an additive.

Sounds like plain ol sugar to me to get them addicted like the chavs are addicted to Red Bull and Mcshyt

Hobbs......I yield to your superior knowledge and linguistic skills