China Arrests Feed Producer Implicated in Melamine Contamination
The Chinese government has reportedly arrested the owner of a poultry feed operation implicated in a nationwide scandal involving melamine-tainted animal products. The manufacturer apparently confessed to using the industrial chemical in 212 tons of chicken feed sold to Dalian Hanovo Enterprise Group, which then distributed adulterated eggs to Chinese consumers. The government also destroyed an additional 75 tons of contaminated feed seized from the owner as part of its crackdown on the widespread practice of adding melamine to feed and dairy products to artificially boost protein counts. State media sources have indicated that inspectors have shuttered 238 illegal
farms and 130 dairy farms since melamine-laden infant formula first sickened thousands of children. The scandal has closed approximately 20 percent of China’s dairy industry. See What Not To Eat: Marion Nestle, November 12, 2008.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has apparently issued a detention order for milk-containing products imported
from China. The agency will hold these products, which range from baby food to candies and pet foods, at ports of entry until independent testing confirms the absence of melamine compounds. In addition, FDA has kept in place an import alert issued on October 10 for specific items known to be tainted with melamine.
China currently exports $3.8 million in annual food and beverage products to the United States, leading to concerns that the detention order will adversely affect trade relations. Ben England, a former FDA official now working with Chinese producers, estimated that some products could be held in port from six weeks to three months. “This is going to be very, very expensive,” he was quoted as saying. See The Associated Press, November 13, 2008; The Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2008.
