Shanghai plans seafood checks as melamine concerns widen

By Lydia Chen  |   2008-10-30  |     ONLINE EDITION

SHANGHAI will carry out full scale checks on feed used in the fisheries industry due to fear the widening melamine-tainted food scandal may spread to seafood. The dangerous chemical has already been found in eggs and milk powder.

Shanghai’s Livestock Office pledged today that the check will cover more than 100 feed producers in the city and further inspections on seafood will start if the feed given to fish are found contaminated with the toxic chemical.

The check came after four Chinese brands of eggs were found containing melamine this week in Hong Kong and Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

The melamine was probably added to feed given to chickens that laid the contaminated eggs, according to previous reports.

The level of protein is one key in determining feed standards in China. Melamine raises protein readings but not the protein content.

The chemical is not an animal feed additive and is banned from being added, according to a notice issued by the Ministry of Agriculture in July 2007.

The melamine-contaminated eggs have not caused any reported illnesses thus far.

Shanghai Evening News cited an industry insider as saying that adding melamine in feed is almost a common practice in the industry as producers seek to raise protein readings at less expense.

The chemical, used to make plastics, paint and adhesives, has been used in the feed industry for at least five years, the insider told the newspaper. The source added that cows, sheep, poultry, pigs and fish had been given feed containing melamine. Soft-shelled turtles and eels are also on the list, especially in southern China, the newspaper said.

Melamine waste residue is sold by its producers for between 600 yuan (US$87) and 800 yuan per ton to animal feed firms. Those firms then add the melamine residue to feed and sell it for up to 4,000 yuan per ton on the market, according to the newspaper.

The paper added that melamine producers on the mainland had to hire experts to help them process melamine residue five years ago to dispose of it, but that now most companies choose to sell it at low prices. More than often, there is “nothing left,” the report said.

The chemical, which can lead to kidney stones and possibly life-threatening kidney failure, has come under fire after high levels of the toxin was found in goods ranging from pet food to milk powder, which was at the heart of last month's dairy crisis across the country.

Four babies died and tens of thousands were sickened in the scandal triggered by dairy suppliers who added melamine to watered-down milk to dupe quality control tests and make the product appear rich in protein.