Chinese Factory Bulldozed; More Fish Farms Contaminated

FDA officials said Thursday that fish meal contaminated with melamine has been found at 60 U.S. fish hatcheries and farms; on Wednesday, the number was 13. And in China, when US inspectors reached Mao Lijun's factory 400 miles northwest of Shanghai, they discovered it had been bulldozed. By the owner.

According to the Seattle Times, "Melamine producers in China have said that melamine scrap, a cheaper form of the chemical, has been widely sold to entrepreneurs who use it to fool farmers into thinking that they were getting higher-nutrient animal feeds." Melamine is used to produce plastics and fertilizer and banned in US foods.

At the end of April, more than two months after Menu Foods began testing its products and six weeks after the public pet food warning, FDA beefed up its inspection of food ingredients imported from China due to traces of melamine being found in more than half of the tested samples. All contaminated samples were from China. From FDA, 27 April:

As of April 26, 2007, FDA had collected approximately 750 samples of wheat gluten and products made with wheat gluten and, of those tested thus far, 330 were positive for melamine and/or melamine related compounds. FDA had also collected approximately 85 samples of rice protein concentrate and products made with rice protein concentrate and, of those tested thus far, 27 were positive for melamine and/or melamine related compounds. FDA's investigation has traced all of the positive samples as having been imported from China.

This is not the first import alert for food of Chinese origin. In 2006, FDA issued an alert for eel from China. Tests revealed that "many contained a chemical toxic to humans that is banned by the U.S. for use in food-producing animals."

USA Today reports that food imports are on the rise, increasing 50% in the last five years. The number of inspectors has dropped 20% in the same period. Not surprising, then to learn that FDA "inspects about 1% of the imported foods it regulates, down from 8% in 1992 when imports were far less common."

FDA inspects about 80% of the food and food ingredients imported into the US; USDA inspects the rest. USDA, responsible for meet and poultry inspections, seems slightly better funded. For example, in fiscal 2006, it inspected almost 16% of its share of imports.

But there is one more area where USDA rules trump those of FDA:

The FDA also doesn't require that exporting countries have safety systems equivalent to those in the USA. The USDA does that for countries that export meat and poultry, and the Government Accountability Office — the investigative arm of Congress — has said for at least a decade that the FDA should, too.

This laxity comes at a time when food imports from the developing world -- with different regulations in pesticide use, for example -- are increasing. In 2003, the FDA "found pesticide violations in 6.1% of imported foods sampled vs. 2.4% of domestic foods." This research has not been replicated.

Also, see:

• Chinese Contamination Case Catches Two Firms; Another Recall Possible
• Pet Deaths Show The Reach of Globalization
• CFO of Menu Foods Sold Half His Shares Before Story Broke
• FDA Rejections - December 2006
• FDA Pet Food Recall Center (not updated daily)