Orijen people posted:

Q: WE'VE HEARD NEWS OF POSSIBLE CONCERNS WITH CATS IN AUSTRALIA
A: this concern affects the AUSTRALIAN MARKET ONLY and is associated with IRRADIATION applied to ORIJEN upon arriving in Australia. The process and concern is unique to Australia and does not affect ORIJEN products sold anywhere else in the world.

Q: IS ORIJEN IRRADIATED ANYWHERE OTHER THAN AUSTRALIA?
A: No. The irradiation process is unique to Australia.

Q: WHY DOES AUSTRALIA IRRADIATE ORIJEN?
A: The Australian government is concerned about the IBVD virus present in fresh chicken meat. Foods cooked at less than 100C for at least 30 minutes require gamma irradiation at 50 kGrays when entering Australia. As ORIJEN is made with large amounts of fresh meats, irradiation is required upon arrival in Australia.

Q: HAVE ANY OTHER FOODS HAD A PROBLEM WITH IRRADIATION?
A: Our research department has uncovered a study linking "possible nutritional, metabolic, or toxic causes" among cats fed a major brand of irradiated cat food. A summary of the study is available on the internet. LEUKOENCEPHALOMYELOPATHY IN SPECIFIC PATHOGEN-FREE CATS
http://www.vetpathology.org/cgi/content/full/44/6/912

Q: ARE THERE CONCERNS FOR ORIJEN IN ANY OTHER MARKET?
A: Absolutely not. Australia is the only country that irradiates ORIJEN and is the only location where any concerns are reported.

Q: WHAT ACTION HAS CHAMPION TAKEN?
A: We have removed ORIJEN cat foods from Australian shops and have stopped all future shipments.

Q: WHY IS ORIJEN IRRADIATED?
A: Australia requires irradiation on foods that include fresh meats or that have been cooked at low temperatures.
Other pet foods that are cooked at high temperatures or are made with chicken meal, turkey meal, fish meal or other
ingredients that are pre-cooked at high temperatures prior to inclusion in pet foods do not have to be irradiated.

Q: ISN’T IRRADIATION GENERALLY RECOGNIZED AS SAFE?
A: YES. But Irradiation is typically applied to human foods at doses between 5-10kGY.
ORIJEN in Australia received a minimum level of 50 kGY and records recovered from the Australian irradiation facility
show that ORIJEN was irradiated to levels reaching 61 kGY. THESE ARE VERY SUBSTANTIAL LEVELS OF IRRADIATION.
Studies indicate that cats fed dry cat food irradiated at levels between 36 and 47kGY develop the same neurological
symptoms as seen in the Australian cats.

Q: HOW DOES IRRADIATION AFFECT ORIJEN?
A: In recent weeks, Champion Petfoods has conducted extensive testing on ORIJEN Cat sold in Australia. From a combination of laboratory test results, scientific papers from reputable journals, and consultation from various nutritional experts and veterinarians around the world, we have discovered 2 primary factors:

1) VITAMIN A DEPLETION IN IRRADIATED FOODS
Our tests show that irradiation of ORIJEN Cat at 50kGY causes a depletion of vitamin A of up to 77%. The irradiation
levels applied to ORIJEN in Australia exceeded this amount.

We tested ORIJEN cat foods at varying levels of irradiation (0 kGY (control), 25kGY and 50kGY). The results show a
direct and linear relationship between the increase in irradiation dosage and vitamin A depletion. In other words, more
vitamins were depleted as the level of irradiation increased.

Literature published by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (2007) shows that depletion of vitamin A from
irradiated cat food is associated with the same symptoms in cats as are reported in Australia (CASSIDY ET. AL, 2007).
An excerpt from the American College of Veterinary Pathologists’ study supports this finding:

“Both SPF (specific pathogen free) and conventional status cats had been fed to appetite on the same commercial formula ration (Gilbertson and Page Ltd., Welwyn Garden City, UK), except that the ration fed to the SPF cats had been irradiated by a
single-exposure gamma-radiation treatment between 36.3 and 47.3 kGy (Cobalt 60 irradiator; Isotron Ireland, Tullamore,
Ireland). The irradiated diet was consumed to the same extent as the non-irradiated diet, and affected animals did not lose weight until the developing ataxia hindered their access to food… Following supplementation of the irradiated diet with pasteurized proprietary tinned cat food in the winter of 2001 and, ultimately, the replacement of the irradiated diet with an equivalent pasteurized diet, no further cases occurred”.

The report describes an investigation of 8 cases where the disease is associated with the long-term feeding of cats on a
gamma-irradiated dry food diet. This study is available on the internet from the link below:
www.vetpathology.org/cgi/content/full/44/6/912

2) THE FORMATION AND RELEASE OF FREE RADICALS IN IRRADIATED FOODS
A second major impact of irradiation is the formation and release of free radicals. Irradiation does not affect all foods equally. ORIJEN is a nutritionally dense food with much higher levels of long-chain fatty acids (DHA, EPA) than conventional pet foods. These fatty acids are susceptible to oxidation following irradiation. Bi-products from fatty acid oxidation, mainly free radicals, are released into the body with the potential to cause tissue damage. Combined with the loss of antioxidant vitamins (see Vitamin A described above), free radicals are thought to be a major contributing factor.

When irradiation is applied to food, the molecular structure of long chain fatty acids (DHA, EPA) is altered. This causes
the formation of free radicals that are then released into the body.

ORIJEN CAT foods contain very high levels of EPA and DHA unsaturated fatty acids and therefore have a much greater
potential for free radical formation (in response to irradiation) than do conventional dry cat foods. Scientific evidence shows that increased oxidative bi-products combined with decreased presence of antioxidant vitamins (see above) are consistent with the symptoms shown in Australian cats. The fact that cats in Australia treated with vitamin and antioxidant supplementation have shown improvements supports this finding.

An excerpt from the American College of Veterinary Pathologists’ study supports this position:
“Irradiation is known to reduce the vitamin content of food, the effect of which may be indirect, in that inadequate amounts of these compounds may be available to counteract the effects of free radicals generated by normal cell metabolism. A previous study found that irradiation of a feline diet containing 9.8% fat with a 2- to 5-Mrad dose totally destroyed its vitamin A and β-carotene content, whereas thiamine, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), and folic acid were depleted to a lesser extent, and vitamin E concentrations appeared to be unaffected by this dose of radiation. The relatively high dietary fat requirement of cats may be significant in this context in that irradiation of this fat component could potentially generate higher concentrations of micronutrient-damaging free radicals than would be generated on irradiating diets of lower fat content.”

tq tq, should have clicked on d link first...
wonder what australia's gonna do? they are very strict when it comes to imported foodstuff, borderline paranoia if you ask me.
the took my 'wah mui' packets before for testing and told me to collect it a few weeks later b4