Follow-Up to Orijen Pet Food Pt 2
“There is more to quality pet foods than quality ingredients”
The above quote came from a grief-stricken pet owner in Australia whose cat began to exhibit symptoms of ataxia and paralysis after allegedly eating Champion Foods Orijen Cat Food in 2008.
A bit of background is in order: Champion Foods in Canada sought to export their dog and cat dry food to Australia. On July 30, 2007 the Australian government notified Champion Foods that their product would need to undergo irradiation upon entrance. The purpose of food irradiation is to eliminate bacteria, insects and spoilage.
The Australian government advised Champion Foods to contact a gamma irradiation facility to test the possible effects of irradiation on its pet foods before shipping it to Australia.
On August 6, 2007 Champion Foods agreed to the irradiation of its exported pet food by the Australian government.
In November 2008 reports of illness and death among several cats in the Sydney region of Australia occurred. The common denominator was they were allegedly all being fed Orijen dry cat food. Dogs were not affected, presumably because they are not as sensitive to irradiation changes in the kibble.
Champion Foods released a public announcement that “it was not aware of any Australian requirement to irradiate pet foods.” The pet food recalls that ensued were followed by other claims that Champion had conducted its own “in-house testing.”
Susan Thixton, author and publisher of www.truthaboutpetfood.com, wrote extensively and sympathetically about the incident. Like me, she was impressed by Orijen’s commitment to high quality ingredients and quality controls.
Until she received an email from someone in Australia who was directly affected by the cat food controversy and provided the following insights:
“Firstly, it is not the case that all pet foods are irradiated upon entry into Australia. Only those which are not sufficiently heat-treated to satisfy Quarantine requirements.”
“Secondly, Australia does not insist upon irradiation as Peter Muhlenfeld of Champion Petfoods is claiming. Australian Quarantine says you have three options if you want to bring your petfood here and it hasn’t been heated sufficiently during production: (1) heat treatment (2) irradiation at a minimum of 50kGy (3) turn it round and ship it back.”
“It seems inconceivable that Champion Petfoods, about to make an entry into a new overseas market, was not closely following and supporting their new importer/distributor every step of the way and was not fully aware of all this. It seems inconceivable that they themselves did not fully investigate and understand the requirements of the market they were about to break into.”
Thixton made numerous attempts to reach out to Champion Foods and its founder Peter Muhlenfeld for clarification. She wanted to give him an opportunity to make amends and assure American pet food consumers that measures were in place to prevent any similar incidents from taking place. After all attempts failed, Thixton came to realize the hard facts:
“Champion Pet Foods chose to ship their products into Australia. They should have tested the effects the irradiation had on their products long before they were made available to Australian pets. It was the sole responsibility of Orijen/Champion Pet Foods to discover if irradiation would alter their products . . . If you make a mistake, we are not going to be happy about it, but at the very least admit to what you’ve done. It’s one thing to make a mistake and take responsibility of it, it’s a completely different thing to make a mistake and pretend it didn’t happen.” (August 6, 2009)
It is now 10 years later. Champion Foods has relocated to Kentucky and has a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant. They seem to be doing all the right things in terms of marketing and appear to desire transparency.
The question at hand is about integrity and why so many of the pet food watchdogs like Thixton are reluctant to recommend Orijen and Acana pet food: If Champion was careless or even negligent in its duty to ensure that its product is free of deadly contamination and tried to conceal its lack of precautions in 2008, would it do anything differently 10 years later?
This reminds me of a very famous product liability case many decades ago involving Ford Motor Co. and its decision to not recall its cars and replace a 50 cent piece of plastic that would make backseat doors “childproof.” In a heart-breaking case a father attempted to save his small child who had opened the back door of the car and fell out onto the freeway. Both were killed by oncoming traffic. Ford Motor Co. denied any knowledge of any possible danger, until internal memos were leaked to the prosecuting attorneys. Management not only knew but made a deliberate determination that settling wrongful death lawsuits was more “cost effective” than the expense of a recall.
We may never know what discussions—if any—took place at Champion Foods prior to its decision to allow its pet food to be irradiated before it could be sold in Australian markets. Champion Foods has had other recalls, and a very recent class action lawsuit has been filed alleging that Orijen and Acana dog food has been tested and found to contain micrograms of heavy metals arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium and bisphenol A (BPA). As recently as last weekend a client had to return a large bag of Acana dog food because of the mold in the bottom of the bag.
In the last four months the pet food industry has been on a roller-coaster of recalls and shocking revelations, including the discovery of pentobarbital (used to euthanize animals) in several brands of pet food (Gravy Train, Kibbles N’ Bits, Ol’ Roy, Skippy, Party Animal, and Evanger’s Hunk of Beef). Blue Buffalo lost a $32 million suit for lying about the ingredients on its labels and is being sued in a new claim alleging the presence of lead in its dog food. This past month the internet has been ripe with webinars and reports about the link between diseases in pets and the inferior food we feed them. Cancer is becoming an epidemic and is showing up earlier and earlier in dogs. According to one holistic veterinarian, 2 out of every 3 dogs will die from cancer.
Pet food companies are even creating new pet foods to treat conditions caused by pet foods. How crazy is that?
There are so many more choices available among raw meat diets and homemade prepared and balanced meals. But as long as animal owners choose personal convenience over their pet’s health and well-being, they will continue to rely on dry kibble—crap in a bag–and inferior canned food to feed their pets and continue to pay vet bills.
Informed and conscientious pet owners are an animal’s only defense against the irregularities in commercially prepared food—even from the premium food varieties. But education and research take time and effort. How many hours do you spend watching TV? Or surfing the internet? Or shopping?
In honesty, how much of a priority is the health and well-being of your dog or cat?
Just as a steady diet of MacDonalds and KFC will keep us alive, we will not thrive and we will pay a price.
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Resources
Fight back against pet food industry lies—join the Association for Truth in Pet Food at http://www.associationfortruthinpetfood.com
https://www.petfoodindustry.com
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com