Imported Dry Food

[rubiton]

Need some help for info - are there any brands of dog food that at treated at customs on importation? And are all dog food/ingredients imported from places such as China, Vietnam, etc ?

Or is this only related to the brands that were in the news in the last couple of years causing ill health in both cats and dogs?

[Danois]

The irradiation issue related to Orijien cat food - which came from Canada from memory. They stopped importing the dog food too because it was also irradiated and while this did not affect the dogs, there was a risk cats would eat the food and be 'poisoned'.

One of the reasons why pet food needs to be irradiated on entry is if it is cooked at low temperatures (as was the case with Orijien).

I don't think many foods come in from Vietnam/ China.

[rubiton]

Thanks - I thought it was a particular brand and thought that it was only a particular type of product that as taken off the shelves that had ingredients from China or somewhere that had also caused problems.

[Danois]

Suspect you're thinking of Kramar dog treats which were/are made in China I believe.

[k9katz]

In answer to your question, yes there are brands of dog food that are treated by AQIS when they arrive here, gamma irradiation is the most common form of treatment and as Danois said, this was the treatment done to the Orijen brand. You need to ask the various manufacturers of the imported pet foods if their products are subjected to any treatments mandated by AQIS and also ask them where the ingredients are sourced from. Just because a product comes in from USA or anywhere else for that matter, it doesnt neccesarily mean that the ingredients going into the foods are not from China etc and havent been subjected to treatments BEFORE going into the various foods, this also relates to Australian brands using any imported ingredients even if the food is Australian Made. Many treats found on our shelves are Gamma Irradiated upon entry, an example is imported Pigs Ears, rawhides etc. Until legislation is introduced that makes it law that products must be labelled if they have been irradiated, unfortunately you may never know. If a product is labelled, "must not be fed to cats" you can be pretty sure this has been treated as AQIS brought in this rule after the terrible saga with Orijen. Hope this helps.

[rubiton]

Thanks for that advice.