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Yes Peter you are right, as is often the case in circumstances like these, facts often give way to misinformation.
1)You said "We have a long and proud tradition of producing innovative foods from fresh regional ingredients since 1985." Your company representative said you found BHA & BHT during your testing, preservatives possibly from a dried chicken product
2)You said "the recall is limited to Australia and results from the high level of irradiation (61kGY) that our foods were exposed to when entering the country." AQIS said that this treatment will not go ahead without an Authority to Treat Goods document signed by Manufacturer or importer or agent which states the level of irradiation applied and that AQIS render the goods safe for treatment purposes ONLY.
3)You said "Australia does not irradiate all pet foods – only those made with fresh ingredients (like ORIJEN) and/or cooked at low temperatures (like ORIJEN) are irradiated." AQIS said you/importer/agent was given the choice of heat treatment OR irradiation.
4)You said "no one in the industry – including Champion - was aware of the potential danger irradiation posed to our cat foods." Sorry is this the pet food industry or the irradiation industry. Are you telling us that you have checked with everyone in the entire world an no-one was aware of the potential danger of irradiation. 30 seconds on Google Peter
5)You said "we began to receive strange reports of cats falling ill in Australia." If you owned one of these cats strange is not a word that comes to mind absolutely devastating is closer.
6) You said "All tests showed the foods to be fine." Fine maybe but also containing preservatives which contradicts what your website says
7)You said "Enquiries into all other markets (50 countries) where ORIJEN is sold revealed there were no reports or problems with the foods anywhere else." I have spoken to few people who have reported problems only to be told to retract their comments. I am not saying your food was the cause but we will not know as these reports were not followed up.
8)You said "we decided to put a stop sale on our cat foods in Australia and send a staff member to Australia to investigate first hand." Correct but not in that order. Your staff member came to Australia prior to your recall which took at least 2 months for you to co-ordinate.
9)You said "Indeed, like everyone else we had assumed that irradiation process was safe." Peter please, There are so many studies and advocacy groups stating otherwise. That is a very big assumption indeed.
10)You said "We have also done our best to be open, honest and transparent. All of our actions, investigations and subsequent findings were (and still are) posted on our website." mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Were are the test results?
11)You said "Our mistake was trusting that the irradiation process was safe." No misconception there.
12)You said "In total, less than 3 pallets of ORIJEN cat food were sold in Australia between November 20, 2007 and the recall date of November 2008." Your press release on your website says 6

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I bought a hugebag of the stuff from Zooplus a few weeks ago, now I don't know whether to continue feeding it to my cat. I know apparently the UK stuff is safe but how can we be sure?

He only has 1 small handful per day to supplement the wet food, but it's still a concern. I don't think I shall be buying this product again after reading the posts on here.

Same here, just ordered 7kg I heard that Applaws are offering straight swap for your Orijen but I think lots of cats have gotten the squits from that. I wonder if Champion are willing to do a refund.

So other owners in other countries have reported similar problems? Any from the UK?

My 6 cats would have only received about a 1/2 cup a day of Orijen shared between them at most. And some of the affected cats were having the odd snack on a few dog kibble. It didn't take much of the affected food to cause devastating results.

Jo

If there was something wrong with the food, how long would it take to show up? My cat has been eating from this bag for a couple of weeks now and it's the 2nd bag of Orijen I've bought.

He has been sick twice, but I put that down to him having eaten some foil off a party streamer as that was in the sick along with Orijen, plus the 2nd time he'd ripped open a bin bag and nibbled on a very old empty cat food pouch so I thought that might be the cause too!

I'm tempted to cut my losses and throw the food away but there's probably £15 worth left in the bag and I really can't afford to waste it if there really is no cause to worry!

We fed Orijen for months before symptoms showed. And had stopped feeding it for over a month when our last cat started showing symptoms. She hadn't really been interested in it so had not eat much of it at all. We were hoping she had escaped what had happened but unfortunately not.

And as far as being out of pocket for the food I can assure you that is nothing compared to thousands of dollars this has cost us in vet bills and ancillary costs. You have to weigh the risks and decide what is safe for your cat but I can assure you I would have appreciated a heads up before I started to feed this food as what has happened to us has been totally devastating to our cats, ourselves and our vets.

Jo

RECALL - Orijen cat food in Australia - has been linked with fatal illness! - The Something Awful Forums

I am not saying the food is the problem but we will never know as other claims, not this one, were dismissed even though symptoms were quite similar to the cats in Australia. You asked of any reports in the UK, this is why this one is posted.

Well that's done it for me. I believe my cats get a good balanced diet of foods, all high in meat, so it's not going to make the world of difference, they prefer Hills Kitten anyway.

Hi, thanks for all your support, Gus is now into day 37 without being able to walk thanks to Orijen. He is incontinent, being hand fed and hydrated with a syringe, Maurice, thankfully has not got any worse but he was the first to get sick in December for 3 weeks and then got better for about 2 weeks and now well you have all seen him on You tube. The pain and distress this Orijen caused poisoning is inflicting on me by having to watch my sick cats is heartbreaking. My cats are everything to me,they keep me company and make me laugh as my partner works away from home on long shifts. All the vet can do is prescribe a cysteine amino acid, a Vitamin B shot and a twice weekly visit.
Rosella