China has intensified efforts to ensure food safety after a
spate of incidents involving poisonous pet feed in the Untied
States.
The State Council yesterday issued a circular ordering
inspections of medicines and additives used in animal feed to be
carried out nationwide.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection
and Quarantine - the top quality control watchdog - said on Tuesday
that two Chinese companies had exported melamine-contaminated wheat
gluten and rice protein blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats in
the United States.
Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co Ltd and Binzhou
Futian Biology Technology Co Ltd "illegally added melamine to wheat
gluten and rice protein in a bid to meet the contractual
requirement for the amount of protein in the products," it
said.?
The firms evaded quality checks by labeling the products as export
items, which are not subject to domestic quality inspections.
It added the local public security authorities had launched an
investigation into the cases and had detained company
officials.
The administration said it had found no more
melamine-contaminated products after checking 399 samples from 173
exporters nationwide.
The watchdog said it had notified the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) of the investigation results and proposed to
set up a cooperation mechanism on food safety with the United
States.
Melamine is an organic chemical used in the production of a wide
range of products including glues , resins and fertilizers.
When added to foods it makes them appear more protein-rich, but
it can be deadly to animals, according to the FDA.
Melamine is not believed to pose a risk to humans.
So far 15 deaths of dogs and cats have been reported by the FDA,
which, however, is investigating the deaths of hundreds of pets,
according to Reuters.
A team from the US Food and Agriculture department has
reportedly arrived in China to help with investigations.
Meanwhile, Washington is considering a ban on imports of wheat
gluten and rice protein from China, according to media reports.
In another development, several US states have recently banned
catfish from China because of the presence of a potentially
hazardous antibiotic named fluoroquinolone banned by the FDA.
However, it is in accordance with domestic standards, an
official with the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday.
(China Daily May 10, 2007)