Concerned About A Product

[crabbycrazy2]

It has come to my attention yesterday of a certain preservative found in a product on the The Crabbage Patch website. A few of us fellow crabbers on here were doing some research on it and have found some awful facts. The Colorado Care Co. has several products sold on their website. The one in question is their Hermit Crab Kibble. Yesterday, when I visited the site it stated that it had metabisulfite in it. We looked it up online and found these results.

"It is used as a food additive, mainly as a preservative and is sometimes identified as E223. As an additive, it may cause allergic reactions, particularly skin irritation e.g. eczema; gastric irritation and asthma. It is not recommended for consumption by children. It is present in many dilutable squashes (i.e. fruit juice concentrates) and in candy bars such as Mounds."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_metabisulfite

It is also used as a sterilization / Cleaning agent, and a aid in stump removal and it's chemical properties are alarming!

"When mixed with water, metabisulfite releases sulfur dioxide (SO2), a pungent, unpleasant smelling gas that can also cause breathing difficulties in some people. For this reason, metabisulfite has fallen from common use in recent times."

This is the kicker though! I emailed The Crabbage Patch asking them about this and how it can be good for the crabs. When revisting the site late last night they had taken it off the ingredient list and substituted calcium and mineral supplements in it's place. I was shocked and appalled that they could misinform people like that, what if someone buys it now and think their getting a great product for their crabs!
This is their reply to my initial email asking about the ingredients.

" I am not sure where you are finding metabisulfite in any of the Colorado Care Products’ ingredient lists. Here are links to the 3 products we offer by them. Colorado Care Company Strawberry Color Supplement Colorado Care Company Indo Color Supplement Colorado Care Company Hermit Crab Kibble



The Colorado Care Company line contains no preservatives."



Regards,

Kirk Weick

I also was concerned that CCC's products stated using salt, or pure plain salt and the metabisulfite . So, I have emailed CCC about all of this. This is what I wrote:

"Since the recent pet food scare, I've been very interested in feeding all organic foods to my animals. I was visiting The Crabbage Patch website and came across your products. I am a little concerned about some of the items used in them. I noticed that one was salt. That is harmful to crabs, unless it's sea salt. The other is a preservative that was listed as metabisulfite. That kind of preservative has been know to cause allergic reactions, particularly skin irritations,eczema; gastric irritation and asthma. It is not recommended for consumption by children. I was wondering if you could email me all the ingredients that are in the product. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter, but I want only the best for my pets."

Sincerely,
Jeffiegfan24

This was their reply to my email:

From Sara Elizabeth Ann Taylor <blaze88@gmail.com> Block Sender | Block Domain
Date 2008/01/25 Fri PM 11:16:43 CST
To jeffiegfan24@verizon.net
Subject Re: Question about product
"All of my ingredents are listed on the crabbage patch website. There is no metabibulfite in my product. The salt is 100% salt, with no iodine added or anti-cracking agents. I do not use table salt in my product."

As you can see, she didn't send me a complete list of ingredients. I received a very short reply. So, I am currently waiting other reply emails from both companies. I have asked The Crabbage Patch how and why they changed the product ingredients after receiving my concerned email. Also, to the Colorado Care Co. I have restated a complete list of the calcium/ mineral supplements used in making their products. Also, for her to confirm if it's pure sea salt. When I receive those replies, I will post them here. I just want everyone on here to know what's going on, even though most of us order food from Vicki. There are those who are new to crabbin' and need to be informed of the problem!

[HermitPaws]

Thats Scary!! thanks for the info.

[Hildegarde]

crabbycrazy2

I'm very interested in the outcome. I've bought the kibble both from Tammy and Blaze. Blaze assured me that the kibble contained 100% of the nutritional needs of crabs. So I've been giving it to them daily along with two or three other food items I've purchased from places like NarNars, Els Shells, Vicky etc.

Is this serious enough to stop using it, or is it more of a concern there may be a problem but it is in the process of being resolved?

[LSHermies]

That is just great. I have some of the kibble!
I bought from them before I found this site and found out about vickie.

Thanks for the info. I ground my kibble so I am sure that preservative is ground right up and through out the food.

[crabbycrazy2]

I believe it is serious enough to stop feeding it to your crabs. If it is known to cause these side effects in humans and not recommended for children, what could it be doing to the crabs? I could understand maybe, if they said it was a typo on the ingredients, but my first initial email asking about it, went unreplied for most of the day, and then checking back on the site to get a screen shot of the product, it was mysteriously changed to calcium/mineral supplements. It was then that I received the email from them stating the product was preservative free. A little too fishy for my taste. I was not the only person to see it listed. I haven't received any replies to my latest emails to both companies. I will def. post them here ASAP. So yes Hildegarde, the matter has not been resolved.

[crabbycrazy2]

One other quick note to add: There are NO COMPLETE diets for hermit crabs as the product also states.

[vckums]

crabbycrazy2 did contact me alogn with a link to CP and the ingredient. When I did a wiki search I found the same info she did. It sent up red flags to me, so I sent off a quick email to Julia Crab about it asking if it was ok to feed to crabs in crab food. She emailed back stating "Absolutely not".
I did see the ingredient listed on CP's site. I'm concerned that it was taken off and no explination given. Erasing a word on a site doesn't take the ingredient out of the food.
Definately make sure to keep us updated should you hear back from either place.

[Yadokari]

This is why I only buy homemade foods (like vicki's)! I don't trust companies who make "hermit crab food". It's all too suspicious.
This thread is so interesting It's like a conspiracy in the crab community.

[LSHermies]

When I bought from them I thought I was buying home made food is the problem. I thought I was buying the best I could get for my crabs...w/o making it myself.

[vckums]

I don't think it's a company, it's a fellow crabber. I've only seen the person on hca.com.