Wednesday, February 10, 2010

December 15, 2008 17:43 PM

China: Probe On 27 Cases Of Melamine In Animal Feed

By Tham Choy Lin

BEIJING, Dec 15 (Bernama) - Tests on animal feed after melamine was found in mainland eggs exported to Hong Kong revealed 2.39 per cent contained excessive levels of the industrial chemical, state media reported Monday.

Twenty-seven cases have been referred to the police, China Daily quoted Agriculture Ministry official Wang Xiaohong as saying at an annual national feed additives meeting in southern Guangzhou city over the weekend.

A total of 22,700 batches of animal feed were tested and 2.39 per cent contained excessive melamine beyond two parts per million, the report said.

Melamine was also at the centre of an infant milk powder scandal in September which killed six babies and sickened 296,000 other infants.

The chemical banned in food production was added to diluted milk to raise its protein content reading and caused kidney ailments in its infant victims.

Wang, a director of the National Feed Office, said tests on animal feed began after Hong Kong rejected eggs found with melamine linked to animal feed.

The office recently issued a new catalogue of permitted feed additives and is also revising rules on feed and feed additives management to be ready before the Lunar New Year next month.

"More than 50 new additives, which can be used, have been included in the new version of the catalogue. Those not named are strictly forbidden. Melamine is the key illegal additive China is trying to crack down on," Wang said.

Last year, melamine was also found in pet food exported to the United States.

China is the largest feed and feed additive exporter after the U.S. and its output this year is estimated at 131 million tonnes.

-- BERNAMA

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