In November 2008, unexplained fatal neurological damage among Sydney cats was linked to the Canadian Orijen brand of cat food.
The problem was restricted to Australia, despite the fact the same food being shipped to other countries and being consumed without issue. No links could be made to certain batches of food, and Orijen was unable to find issues with their production. While initial links were made to irradiation, which happens shortly after the pet food arrives in Australia, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) released a ‘Notice to Industry’ on the 6th of March 2009 advising that imported pet food must still comply with Australia’s import conditions and advising that “ultimately it is the responsibility of the pet food manufacturers and importers to determine if irradiation treatment could be a risk to pet health.”
The main import condition surrounding the issue is this:
Where imported pet food has not undergone moist heat treatment to achieve a minimum core temperature of 100°C for at least 30 minutes or equivalent during the manufacturing process, AQIS offers importers the options of subjecting the pet food to moist heat treatment or irradiation, as a condition of import.
Gamma irradiation is (to put it simply) the process of exposing an item to radiation in order to kill bacteria. It is used with imported human foods (but with lower radiation levels), and for such things as the sterilisation of medical supplies. While radiation sounds quite scary, everything is handled in a very safe manner, and it is very rare to experience any issues as a result.
In this instance, the Agricultural Minister Tony Burke, announced on the 3rd of June that all irradiation of cat food is to cease, effective immediately. “Mr Burke said the inspection service decided to act in response to international reports his department received only late last week.”
A very slow reaction to what became an issue back in November 2008, I must say.
An updated ‘Notice to Industry’ was released by AQIS on the 3rd June, 2009, outlining the changes, a summary of which is below:
– Biosecurity Australia (BA) has now considered further information on this issue and has advised AQIS that it no longer considers gamma-irradiation to be a suitable treatment for imported dried/semi-moist cat food.
- Accordingly, AQIS will no longer offer the option of gamma-irradiation for imports of dried/semi-moist cat food.
- Cats should not be fed dog food because of the different nutritional requirements of the two species. However, there is some circumstantial evidence that cats fed on imported dried/semi-moist dog foods that have been subject to gamma-irradiation may also be prone to the neurological condition.
- BA has advised that there is no evidence that the health of dogs fed on gamma-irradiated dog food is compromised. Importers of dog food will still be offered the option to treat their products with gamma-irradiation. However, it is intended that an extra condition will be applied to import permits that will require these products to be prominently labelled ‘Must not be fed to cats’.
There is no firm evidence as to why only cats have been effected by the irradiation, or why only the Orijen brand has caused issues when they are only one of many brands of imported pet foods that have been sterilised, so it does seem to be a bit of a knee-jerk reaction, but one that will at least stop the problem continuing – in cat food at least.
I think more research needs to be undertaken to determine the underlying cause, as I do not believe the cats were not made sick just because the food was irradiated, or else this problem would have been much more widespread.
savvycat x
