EFSA FEEDAP — butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) feed-additive safety
Source: EFSA FEEDAP scientific opinion, EFSA Journal 2018;16(3):5215 (DOI 10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5215), retrieved 2026-08-06 via Europe PMC OA full-text XML. Paraphrase of an EFSA opinion that the source XML tags CC-BY-ND; per project COPYRIGHT_POLICY only facts/numbers/proper-nouns are quoted verbatim, sentences rewritten.
Editorial context (read this before using the data point)
This is the EFSA FEEDAP jurisdiction on the antioxidant preservative butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), another controversial pet-food additive. Like ethoxyquin, the Panel excludes cats from the safe level. Read with EFSA_FEEDAP_ethoxyquin_safety and the existing efsa antioxidant endpoints.
Key findings (paraphrase; numbers and proper nouns verbatim from source)
- The FEEDAP Panel considers BHA safe up to 150 mg/kg complete feed for all animal species except cats, for which a safe dose could not be established from the tolerance data.
- BHA is rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, rapidly metabolised, and excreted as such and as metabolites in urine and faeces; no accumulation of BHA or metabolites was observed in tissues.
- The Panel concludes no concern for consumer safety would arise from BHA as a feed additive at the maximum 150 mg/kg feed.
- The additive should be considered a skin and eye irritant and a potential skin sensitiser; user exposure via inhalation is considered unlikely, so a risk is not expected.
- Use at the maximum proposed concentration is unlikely to pose a risk to the environment; BHA is authorised as a food antioxidant at comparable use levels, so efficacy studies were not required.
Pet-food relevance
BHA is a common pet-food antioxidant. The cat exclusion and the skin/eye sensitiser flag are the decision-relevant points for cat-food and handler-safety considerations.
Scope note / honest gap
Paraphrase of an EFSA opinion; full study statistics are not reproduced. Source XML licence tag was CC-BY-ND, so this topic quotes only data points verbatim and rewrites prose.