http://www.itchmo.com/read/melamine-spiking-in-food-widespread-for-years_=20070429
No more denials, no more hemming and hawing by the FDA. Time to take =
massive cautionary action is now. It's not just animal feed anymore. =
It's not just pet food. It's a crisis. It's been going on for years. =
It's being done in "wheat, corn, soybean or other proteins".
All ingredients and foods imported from abroad needs to be tested now. =
Period. Any food that used suspect ingredients should be recalled. ASAP. =
Highlights below from the IHT article (emphasis ours):
Here at the Shandong Mingshui Great Chemical Group factory, huge =
boiler vats are turning coal into melamine, which is used to create =
plastics and fertilizer.
But the leftover melamine scrap, small acorn-sized chunks of white =
rock, is then being sold to local entrepreneurs, who say they secretly =
mix a powdered form of the scrap into animal feed to artificially =
enhance the protein level.
"It just saves money," says a manager at an animal feed factory here. =
"Melamine scrap is added to animal feed to boost the protein level."
The practice is widespread in China. For years animal feed sellers =
have been able to cheat buyers by blending the powder into feed with =
little regulatory supervision, according to interviews with melamine =
scrap traders and agricultural workers here.
"Many companies buy melamine scrap to make animal feed, such as fish =
feed," says Ji Denghui, general manager of the Fujian Sanming Dinghui =
Chemical Company. "I don't know if there's a regulation on it. Probably =
not. No law or regulation says 'don't do it,' so everyone's doing it. =
The laws in China are like that, aren't they? If there's no accident, =
there won't be any regulation."
Most local feed companies do not admit that they use melamine. But =
last Friday here in Zhangqiu, a fast-growing industrial city southeast =
of Beijing, a pair of animal feed producers explained in great detail =
how they purchase low-grade wheat, corn, soybean or other proteins and =
then mix in small portions of nitrogen-rich melamine, whose chemical =
properties give a bag of animal feed an inflated protein level under =
standard tests.
"If you add it in small quantities, it won't hurt the animals," said =
one animal feed entrepreneur whose name is being withheld to protect him =
from prosecution.
The man - who works in a small animal feed operation that consists of =
a handful of storage and mixing areas - said he has mixed melamine into =
animal feed for years.
We've always suspected that this problem went back further than Menu =
Foods and this article confirms our suspicions. Again, we may never know =
the degree of deaths and illnesses in pets as many have long died and =
evidence has been lost.
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