Melamine Fears Spread to Tainted Animal Feed

BEIJING - Animal feed makers deliberately added an industrial chemical to their products, ignoring a year-old government rule meant to protect China's food supply, a government official said.

Among the quarter of a million feed-makers and animal breeding farms inspected, inspectors found more than 500 engaged in illegal or questionable practices, with police further investigating 27 companies, Wang said. He likened the behavior of some of the companies to organized crime, calling them "black nests of gangsters."

Commonly used in plastics and fertilizers, melamine is high in nitrogen, which registers as high protein levels in routine tests of food and feed. Though experts say at low levels it does not pose a risk to human health, higher concentrations harm the kidneys.

Reports that Chinese producers regularly add melamine to animal feed are sparking new fears that more Canadian products could be contaminated with the industrial chemical.

Only a modest amount of Canada's meat products - just under $200,000 worth, according to Statistics Canada - came from China in 2007. But last year, Canada imported nearly $15-million worth of protein substances and other ingredients primarily used to make animal feed from China.