ORIJEN foods and treats

Q. How do i transition my pet to ORIJEN foods?

The first time you transition your dog or cat to ORIJEN, we recommend selecting a recipe with a meat-type that matches the food you are currently feeding. This will help allow for the easiest transition and also minimize the risk of gastrointestinal upset. For example, if your dog is currently on a poultry-based diet, you may want to try the ORIJEN Original recipe.

Start by mixing 25 percent new food with 75 percent old food. Slowly increase the new food proportionately over 10-14 days until you are feeding 100 percent new food.

Check our diet selector. For more specific dietary needs, please contact our Customer Care department.

Q. What is a rotational diet? Can i do this with ORIJEN?

After initially transitioning to ORIJEN, what many Pet Lovers do is a method of feeding known as Rotational Feeding. Rotating between ORIJEN formulas prevents your dog or cat from getting tired of eating the same thing day in and day out, while offering them a great variety of proteins and fats. A good place to start is rotating by the bag – when you have finished one formula, your next bag will be a different recipe. The first time you introduce a new food for rotation, mix the food 50/50 just to make sure your pet transitions well to the new ORIJEN food. However, if your dog or cat is more diet-sensitive, do a full transition when introducing a new ORIJEN food – after that you can change at will.

 

Q. HOW DO I CHOOSE BETWEEN ORIJEN PRODUCTS?

The first time you transition your dog or cat to ORIJEN, we recommend selecting a recipe with a meat-type that matches the food you are currently feeding. This will help allow for the easiest transition and also minimize the risk of gastrointestinal upset. For example, if your dog is currently on a poultry-based diet, you may want to try the ORIJEN Original recipe.

• 100% Dry Kibble: Our ORIJEN Dry Kibble options offer a complete and balanced meal that can be fed just on its own.
• 100% Freeze-Dried Food: Freeze-dried animal ingredients provide your dog with a rich, concentrated source of protein and nutrients, just like a raw diet – but in a convenient, dry form. This can be rehydrated with warm water to be fed as a complete meal.
• Freeze-Dried Food As a Topper: Do you have a dog that is sometimes a little bit picky and you need to entice them, or do you want to add a delicious mix in to change up mealtime? Feeding ORIJEN dry recipes with a topping of our Freeze-Dried Foods may be a great fit for you that your dog will thank you for with tail wags galore.
• Canned or Dry Combo: You can feed an ORIJEN dry recipe in the morning, and switch to one of our canned options when the dinner bell rings. This is a great way to keep your dog interested and excited about mealtime.
• Canned or Freeze-Dried Food as a Topper: Do you have a dog that is sometimes a little bit picky and you need to entice them, or do you want to add a delicious mix in to change up mealtime? Feeding ORIJEN dry recipes with a topping of our canned recipes or Freeze-Dried Foods may be a great fit that your dog will thank you for with tail wags galore.

Q. Why does Champion reformulate or enhance its ORIJEN diets at times?

Champion Petfoods has a history of innovation when it comes to our ingredients and our foods, and changes are made with the intention of improving them. As part of this work, we will from time to time make minor changes and enhancements to our foods.

Adjustments over the past year have been focused on enhancing our packaging to better tell our premium nutrition story.

While our ORIJEN packaging looks a bit different, formulation variations in the last year have been minimal and we have made them for a variety of important reasons including:

• Greater focus on ingredient sustainability
• As challenges occur across our global supply chain, we have made some adjustments to ensure a consistent supply of premium ingredients
• As regulations evolve, we need to adapt to ensure our foods remain in compliance
• Other updates are made to ensure our products have consistent naming conventions

At Champion Petfoods, maker of ORIJEN, we are always evaluating and evolving our products to ensure we are meeting the highest quality standards. The exciting new changes to some of our ORIJEN pet foods further improve digestibility, palatability and responsible sourcing; and continue our commitment to include at least 85% animal ingredients, the first five being fresh or raw. These changes incorporate enhanced levels of probiotics, B and E vitamins, and antioxidants, plus we have increased the amount of sustainable wild-caught salmon in place of mackerel. Since 2021, we have been preparing these changes and we now are pleased we can offer pet lovers an even better pet food to help their pets thrive for a lifetime.

Q. Do you have any feeding tips?

We recommend for most pets, you feed twice daily. Simply divide the amount suggested on the feeding guide into two meals, spaced eight to 12 hours apart. For example, if the feeding guide calls for 1 cup per day, we recommend feeding ½ a cup in the morning and ½ a cup at night. You may need to adjust portions as you learn your pet’s ideal daily “maintenance” amount. These amounts may change over time as your pet’s age and activity levels change. Always keep in mind a lean dog or cat is a healthy pet.

Many dogs and cats have large appetites and will eat everything you feed them. As ORIJEN foods are highly palatable, you need to be careful not to overfeed, as this can cause issues such as loose stool or unwanted weight gain.

Q. How many treats should I feed?

We all love to give our pets treats. However, treats should be given in moderation and should represent 10% or less of your pet’s daily food intake. The rest should come from a nutritionally complete feeding program. When using treats frequently, such as during training exercises, try to use small pieces.

Feeding Treats.pdf

Q. What does biologically appropriate mean?

The Biologically Appropriate concept is simple: mirror the quantity, freshness and variety of animal ingredients that dogs and cats are evolved to eat.

Q. What does wholeprey mean?

Nature matched the nutrients in whole animals to perfectly meet your dog or cat’s biological needs. ORIJEN WholePrey incorporates meats, organs, and bone to reflect the natural diet, eliminating the need for long lists of synthetic ingredients.

Q. What is meatmath?

MeatMath is designed to help you assess if your food is Biologically Appropriate. Biologically Appropriate foods are formulated to match the eating anatomy of the animal they are intended for. Dogs and cats are evolved as carnivores, which means they require high concentrations of meat, high inclusions of fresh meat, and a rich diversity of meat.

Is your food Biologically Appropriate?

Answer the three meat questions: How Much? How Fresh? How Many?

• How much meat is in a recipe? Our recipes feature 85-95%* premium animal ingredients.
• How much fresh or raw meat is in a recipe? ORIJEN's animal ingredient content contains 2/3 fresh or raw.
• How many meats are included in a recipe? Each ORIJEN recipe contains a minimum of 6 different animal ingredients

*approximate and derived from the pre-processed state of the ingredients.

 

Q. Are ORIJEN foods supplemented with amino acids, vitamins, or minerals?

ORIJEN foods feature WholePrey amounts of fresh muscle meat, organs, and bone to reflect the ancestral diets and eliminate the need for long lists of synthetic ingredients. Organ meats are a concentrated, natural sources of virtually every nutrient your dog or cat needs to thrive, including all essential vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and vital amino acids. Organ meats such as kidney, liver, and tripe are loaded with minerals such as iron, copper, magnesium, and iodine, and provide important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, all of which nourish dogs and cats as nature intended. This is why you will find a majority of our amino acids, or minerals, on the guaranteed analysis or typical analysis but not on the ingredient list.

Q. Where do you source your ingredients?

We believe making the world’s best pet foods requires using the world’s best ingredients. That’s why we collaborate with a specially curated group of leading farmers, ranchers, and fisheries we know and trust. Trust is earned by demonstrating an ongoing commitment to quality, food safety, sustainability, and communication.

Our strong network enables us to source only the best, including lamb from New Zealand, fish from Scandinavia, and other premium ingredients from our neighbors. No matter what, every ingredient we choose is selected for its nutritional value, digestibility and superior flavor.

Our commitment to trust and transparency has led to a robust supplier vendor audit approval program and detailed ingredient traceability system.
Click to learn more about our ingredients.

Q. Fresh, raw or dried – what’s the difference?

FRESH: Our fresh ingredients meet the AAFCO standard of refrigeration as the sole method of preservation.
RAW: Our raw ingredients are the same as our fresh, but are frozen at the peak of freshness to preserve nutrients.
DRIED: Dried fish and meat ingredients are made of flesh, bones and cartilage, and provide a concentrated source of protein, with their bone content providing a very rich source of minerals. Dried ingredients are made by removing water from the meat, bone, and cartilage ingredients through a cooking process.

Q. Who formulates your diets and what are their credentials?

Our talented team of animal food scientists and nutritionists lead the development and research of our pet foods. They possess a wide variety of education and experience including degrees in Doctorates of Veterinary Medicine, PhDs in Animal Nutrition, PhDs in Food Science, Masters of Science degrees in Animal Nutrition, Food Science, Meat Hygiene and Food Microbiology. They also hold Bachelor’s degrees in Animal Science, Biochemistry, and Veterinary Medicine.

We also partner with numerous Doctors of Veterinary Medicine as consultants. We have always created Biologically Appropriate pet foods and are proud of the research we conduct.

Q. Who makes ORIJEN foods and where are they made?

ORIJEN Dried and Freeze-Dried foods are made by Champion Petfoods in our own kitchens. Our canned foods are overseen by our in-house Research & Innovation specialists and produced by a partner with expertise in their field to create only the finest foods for pets. When you choose ORIJEN, you can be confident your dog’s and cat’s food has been prepared with care and attention.

Q. Do you perform any type of animal testing?

Our position on animal testing is simple – we only conduct tests that we would allow our own companion dogs and cats to participate in. We perform various research trials such as palatability tests (taste), digestibility testing (through stool analysis only), and AAFCO feeding trials.

If it’s not OK for our dogs and cats, then it’s not OK for any other dogs and cats.

Q. Tell me about your Quality Assurance Protocol

KIBBLE, FREEZE DRIED FOOD AND TREATS

Built to reflect our commitment to Pet Lovers everywhere, NorthStar kitchen has achieved the internationally recognized Safe Feed/Safe Food (SFSF) and HACCP certifications. Our NorthStar and New NorthStar Kitchens are also two of very few North American pet food facilities that are European Union certified.

Our track-and-trace system tracks ingredients throughout our kitchens at each step in the process. All of this information is stored in databases that link to a finished product lot code, which enables trace back to an individual ingredient supplier or any step within our kitchens’ processes.

Our Quality Assurance department follows testing protocols from the time ingredients enter our kitchen through production and packaging. Our Quality Assurance technicians sample the raw, in-process and finished products according to our risk-based and scientifically-sound protocols. All finished products are subjected to pathogen evaluation before release and shipment. No product is released for shipment until all tests for food safety and quality are confirmed to be favorable.

Canned

Every ORIJEN product we make meets our standards for Quality Assurance. For our canned products, Champion chose to partner with an expert in the canning industry. Our Partner holds British Retail Consortium (BRC) food safety certification, which is a Food Safety Management System recognized by Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). Our own in-house Quality Assurance team fully audited our partner’s systems and processes so that we can feel confident about their capabilities and expertise.

We receive full nutritional testing for every lot number and subject all our foods to a 10-day hold program prior to shipment. During this time, samples are sent to our own DogStar facility in Kentucky where our Quality Assurance technicians conduct in-house quality testing prior to signing off on shipment release.

Q. Storing your ORIJEN food

KIBBLE, FREEZE DRIED FOOD AND TREATS

Once opened, you can safely store ORIJEN Dry food in its packaging by rolling the top of the bag down after each use. If you live in a humid climate, consider using an airtight container and simply put the entire bag of food in the container. Remember to wash your storage bin whenever you change out your bag of food to ensure food buildup does not occur. Remember, too, to keep the lot number handy.
Refrigeration of ORIJEN Dry Kibble or Freeze-Dried food is not required. Rather than a garage with large temperature fluctuations, the best storage is in your home in a cool, dry place at room temperature.

Canned

Once opened, you can safely store ORIJEN Premium Wet food in the refrigerator. Leftovers should be used within 3 days.

Q. Best before dates

KIBBLE, FREEZE DRIED FOOD AND TREATS

Each ORIJEN product is guaranteed until the Best Before Date printed on the package. The Best Before (BB) date is printed on the back of the bag at the top of the ORIJEN package along with our lot number and production information. Our BB dates should be read Day, Month, Year.

Canned

Our canned foods have a shelf life of 2 years (24 months). This is shorter than the industry standard and is meant to ensure our vitamin content is optimal over the life of the can.

Q. ARE YOUR CANS BPA FREE?

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a chemical that can be found in the lining of some cans and is used in many consumer products. It is now found in very low levels in the environment around us, making it impossible to eliminate it 100%. For this reason, we cannot say the cans our food is packaged in are BPA-free. We can, however, assure you the cans are non-intent BPA, which means BPA is not used in the making of our cans or added to our cans.

Q. What is FEDIAF AND AAFCO?

FEDIAF is the trade body that represents the European pet food industry. As we do export our ORIJEN diets to Europe, we follow FEDIAF nutritional recommendations for dogs and cats to ensure that our diets are complete and balanced. AAFCO is the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Our Freeze-Dried foods and Treats are produced in our DogStar Kitchen in the US and adhere to the nutritional levels established by AAFCO for cats and dogs.

Q. Are ORIJEN foods appropriate for my overweight pet?

Yes. ORIJEN has a Biologically Appropriate distribution of energy where more energy is supplied from protein and less energy is supplied from carbohydrates. If carbohydrates are provided in excess (as they often are), they convert easily into body fat.

Protein supplies the same amount of energy as carbohydrates but has a very different effect on the body. Unlike carbohydrate, protein is essential for life and is a Biologically Appropriate source of energy.

For overweight pets we would recommend trying our ORIJEN Fit & Trim recipes for cats or dogs.

Q. Is ORIJEN suitable for my senior dog?

Yes. While lower-protein diets have traditionally been recommended for senior dogs, this thinking has been roundly dismissed by recent science. As dogs age, a protein-rich diet is especially important for maintaining peak health.

The relationship between carbohydrates and protein is an important factor in the diets of senior dogs. When protein is high, carbohydrates are low – in other words, high-protein diets are by nature low in carbohydrates. This is great for senior dogs as the last thing they need is an excessive amount of inappropriate carbohydrates, which are simply sugars.

Q. What happened to the ORIJEN Lawsuit?

Heavy Metals
Consumers represented by the same group of plaintiffs’ lawyers brought numerous class action lawsuits alleging that the heavy metals in Champion’s ORIJEN and ACANA dog food was deceptive or misleading. Champion does not add heavy metals into its food as an ingredient, or otherwise. Heavy metals are naturally found in the environment and the ingredients in Champion’s pet food. Every court that has considered this issue has found that the naturally-occurring heavy metals in Champion’s pet food are present at a low, safe levels that are not dangerous or toxic to pets.

Champion, the manufacturers of ORIJEN and ACANA, has tested its dog and cat foods for heavy metals at independent laboratories, using the Official Methods of Analysis by Association of Analytical Communities (AOAC). The results show that the presence of naturally-occurring heavy metals are well below the National Research Council’s maximum tolerable limits, which are the limits that the FDA uses for guidance and are the most widely used scientific guidance available to veterinary toxicology and nutrition experts for determining what are considered to be safe levels of heavy metals in dog food.

“Biologically Appropriate” Pet Food
At least eight federal courts have dismissed, or affirmed the dismissal of, lawsuits arguing that the term “biologically appropriate” was deceptive or misleading. These courts found that the term implies the food is suitable for dogs and cats to eat.

The term ‘biologically appropriate’ refers to pet food that mirrors the natural diets which cats and dogs have evolved to consume, aligned with their digestive anatomy. Studies have shown that the fundamental physiology of modern dogs and cats has experienced minimal change through domestication. Despite present day domestication, our beloved pets evolved from hunters, which is evident in their digestive mechanisms. Dogs and cats have short gastro-intestinal tracts. This indicates that the digestive tract is designed for breaking down protein and fat from meat, rather than plants or grains.

Therefore, in the context of dogs and cats, “biologically appropriate” food would typically consist of fresh or raw meat, offering high protein, moderate fat, and low carbohydrate content. It's worth noting that substantial amounts of grains and carbohydrates are not considered biologically appropriate for your pets, which is why our food is low in carbohydrates, unlike many other ‘premium’ pet food brands.

Q. How can i find an ORIJEN retailer?

Our online store locator will help you locate retailers in your area.

Q. Do you offer a frequent buyer program?

Yes. In Canada the My Champion Rewards program is offered through select retailers. Simply ask your retailer to sign you up. After the purchase of 12 bags you will receive a 13th bag of equal or lesser value free from your retailer. To be eligible for the free bag, the 12 bags must have been purchased within the last two years at time of redemption. If you have any questions about this program please contact our Customer Care team for more information.