Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Zenith (Liz) on November 25, 2008, 18:52:25 PM
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Just to reassure people this seems to be localised only to Australia, I say 'only' as meaning not affecting the UK but it's awful :(
The most likely reason seems to be that Australia irradiate the food bags when they are imported into Australia and the irradiation may have released toxins from the packaging into the food. This appears to have caused paralysis, and they've had to be put to sleep. No other countries irradiate the food.
I thought I'd give you a heads up, I'm about to email my Australian friend as I'm not sure what food she feeds her cats.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/cat-deaths-linked-to-pet-food/2008/11/23/1227375062012.html
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tragic! the more so as symptoms are delayed for a considerable period after the food is withdrawn... Poor people, poor pets ... No-one I know in Oz feeds Orijen to their pets, fortunately.
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How terrible :'(
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I've just had to pick both of my babies up for a squeeze, I couldnt imagine them being hurt! :'(
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I thought the idea of irradiation was to kill bugs and extend shelf life? - we did this in Light spectrums in Physics a while ago. IR light is used.
Poor kitties and owners :(
I have run out of orijen but gave Kylie the last the other day - I was debating whether to get some more small bags or a big one, despite the price going up over 30% at Zooplus. I think I will hold fire ordering for now. I think I may have to email champion and see what they say.
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Somebody on another board has posted a link to this PDF stating it's definitely confined to Australia
http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/Australia_Consumer_Release.pdf
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There is stuff all over the net now. I saw this - very worrying. How do we know the governement here hasn't started irradiating stuff without telling us?
Re: Dangers of food irradiation.
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2008, 09:37:33 PM »
And here is a list of the products created and changes in nutrition:
http://www.mercola.com/article/irradiated/nuclear_lunch.htm
"Some radiolytic products, such as formaldehyde, benzene, formic acid, and quinones are harmful to human health. Benzene, for example, is a known carcinogen. In one experiment, seven times more benzene was found in cooked, irradiated beef than in cooked, non-irradiated beef. Some URPs are completely new chemicals that have not even been identified, let alone tested for toxicity.
In addition, irradiation destroys essential vitamins, including vitamin A, thiamin, B2, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, C, E, and K; amino acid and essential polyunsaturated fatty acid content may also be affected. A 20 to 80 percent loss of any of these is not uncommon."
Good information to know in light of the cat deaths in Australia possibly being linked to irradiated Orijen. That product is in a plastic bag, which someone pointed out may get damaged by irradiation of the food inside. Add those chemicals to the list of food changes and I can see anything from toxin buildup to major nutrient deficiency being possible causes of paralysis.
And from Poco's link, another possible cause of paralysis:
"Aflatoxin, a highly carcinogenic substance produced by molds, is produced in greater quantities in irradiated food (because the bacteria that crowd it out have been killed). The bacterium that causes botulism is not killed by irradiation, but its natural enemies are. Food may be contaminated without any warning smell.
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this is why I want to start growing my own food ... :scared:
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I am going to ask one of my lecturers what he knows as well as being a physicist, he is the editor of an Australian scientific journal (no idea why - I'm sure they have them in OZ )
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what? physicists, or magazines?? :Crazy: :rofl:
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Either/or :evillaugh:
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We had both, last time I was there - never heard of the Australian Women's Weekly? :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: You haven't lived!
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Don't tell me it has knitting patterns and recipes? :evillaugh: - my mum always had Women's Weekly and The People's Friend :evillaugh:
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yep, and celebrity gossip, scandals, and much much more ;)
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I once read the Australian W W, years ago, can't remember where I got hold of it but it was great much different and better than ours, loads of cooking and other articles in :evillaugh:
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yep it is defo better than the English version (sorry guys, that is an objective opinion as I don't really fancy either of them) but can be a bit tedious if you read it too often, as I have done in my time. My friends who stayed recently gave me a copy so as to make me feel homesick. It didn't - just glanced through the endless stories about William, about Mary, about Kylie and so forth, and went yawn. Not even the recipes were all that exciting (though as they were 6 months out of synch with the weather that is scarcely surprising. I think I still have the free recipe book that was stuck to the cover - winter warmers - must look it out, as that seems to be more appealing right now as my nose and toeses slowly freezes ...
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It seems Australia irradiates food at much higher levels than the norm. The higher the dose, the more vitamin A is destroyed. There is something about the lack of vitamin A allows free radicals to develop. I saw a paper that showed tests done in America (last year I think) where cats were fed irradiated food and developed the same thing and died - I don't approve of animal testing btw >:(
The food isn't radioactive as the rays pass right through (we were doing experiments with radioactive things today and strontium 60 was one of them)