The latest information in the ongoing investigation into the melamine-tainted pet and livestock feed includes the release of hogs held due to exposure, accusations of further deception by Chinese suppliers and the addition of aquaculture to the list of affected species.
Testing of meat samples from hogs fed melamine contaminated feed has shown that the compound does not accumulate in pork and is filtered out through the kidneys. This testing process was validated by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). As a result of this finding, the USDA has released the hold on 56,000 pigs in 7 seven states (CA, NC, SC, UT, IL, KS & NY). The hogs will now be allowed to enter the market channels. Approximately 80,000 poultry continue to be held on farms in Indiana while a similar test is being validated for poultry.
Investigators attempted to visit the Chinese manufacturing facilities responsible for shipping the contaminated feed ingredients containing melamine to the U.S. When the inspectors arrived at the sites, however, they found the facilities closed, cleaned and dismantled. They were told that Chinese authorities had detained the company officials but denied FDA representatives access to them.
It also came to light during a press conference last week that the suspect ingredients that U.S. investigators have been tracking, wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate, were, in fact, wheat flour which had been mislabeled by the suppliers. FDA representatives explained that wheat gluten is the protein portion of wheat flour following the removal of the starch. The additional step necessary to remove the starch from wheat flour to produce wheat gluten adds additional cost to the product which could be a motivation for suppliers to mislabel the product and add melamine to artificially raise the apparent protein content. No explanation was given as to why wheat flour mislabeled rice protein concentrate had not been previously detected.
Aquaculture also joined the list of affected species when it was discovered that contaminated ingredients imported into Canada had been used to produce fish feed which was then exported to the U.S. Current estimates are that as many as 198 U.S. fish farms and hatcheries may have received the contaminated feed. To date, the FDA has confirmed that two farms are known to have received the contaminated fish feed manufactured by the Canadian company Skretting.
FDA officials continue to reassure consumers that there is "very low risk of harm to humans from eating food containing low levels of melamine or related compounds." The updated assessment calculates risk based on newly updated laboratory information that accounts for the presence of melamine and cyanuric acid, a melamine related compound detected in the contaminated feed. This assessment found a "250 -fold safety margin." Translated to consumption levels, this means that a person weighing 132 pounds would have to eat more than 800 pounds per day of pork or other food containing melamine and its compounds to approach a level of consumption that would cause a health concern according to government officials.