When a Fire-Prevention Chemical Turned Into a Cancer Debate: The Fishmeal Story

Picture a food ingredient that can burst into flames in a ship’s hold with no spark at all. For much of the twentieth century, that was the real risk of fishmeal, the powder used to feed farmed fish and livestock. ethoxyquin fishmeal, The chemical that ended the danger, ethoxyquin, later became the centre of a very different fight over cancer risk and food safety.

The Hidden Fire Risk Behind Farmed Seafood

Fishmeal is made by drying and grinding fish. It is a core ingredient in feed for salmon, shrimp, tilapia and poultry, and the Outlaw Ocean Project has traced its supply chain across more than 1,400 factories in 64 countries. The trouble is that fishmeal oxidises as it sits, and oxidation produces heat. Packed tightly into a cargo hold, that heat can build until the whole load ignites. Between the 1950s and 1970s, at least 90 fires were reported on ships and in plants worldwide.

How Ethoxyquin Fixed One Problem and Created Another

In the late 1960s, feed giant Cargill promoted ethoxyquin as an antioxidant that stopped fishmeal from overheating. Fires dropped sharply, and by 1976 the US Coast Guard had made treatment mandatory for shipments.

Then the science caught up. Early studies showed toxic effects in lab animals, and in 2015 the European Food Safety Authority said an impurity in the chemical could damage genetic material. In 2017 the European Union suspended its use in animal feed. Norway, the UK, Iceland and Liechtenstein banned it too.

Who Still Allows It, and What Is Replacing It

The picture is uneven. The United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia still permit limited amounts in feed. Exporters such as Peru and Vietnam have not banned it at home, but they now ship ethoxyquin-free fishmeal to strict markets like Europe and Canada. The FDA has found traces in imported shrimp, salmon and tilapia, always below its safety limit, though critics call that limit weak next to the EU’s zero tolerance.

Many producers have switched to BHA, a cheaper synthetic preservative. It has its own record of concern, since US toxicology experts listed it as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen, and the FDA announced a fresh safety reassessment in 2025.

What Everyday Shoppers Can Take Away

• Fishmeal supports most of the world’s farmed seafood.
• Ethoxyquin cut fire risk dramatically but is now banned across much of Europe.
• BHA, the popular substitute, is under review in the US.
• Safety limits differ widely between regions.
• Country-of-origin labels and tools like Bait to Plate help you see where seafood comes from.
• The industry also has local costs, as shown in reports on Senegal and India.

Conclusion – ethoxyquin fishmeal

The lesson here goes beyond one chemical. Fixing a real danger does not guarantee the fix is safe, and BHA now stands where ethoxyquin once did. Until regulators agree on firm limits, the practical step for any shopper is to stay curious about how your seafood was farmed and fed.

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