An overview of the European Commission shows that in the last week of July, multiple alerts of melamine contaminated feed have been reported. The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) found contaminated rice protein in France, Greece, Spain and the UK – all imported from China.
The Commission publishes a weekly overview of alert and information notifications:
- Company names and trade names are not mentioned so as to keep a balance between openness and the protection of commercial information.
- Country names are mentioned as origin of the product. However, this is by no means proof that the identified hazard originated in the specified country.
Week 2007/30 MELAMINE FINDINGS IN EUROPE:
Abbreviations: CC = ‘detected by company’s own testing’ and BC = ‘screen sample at border control, import rejected’.
|
Date |
Notified by |
Check |
Reason |
| 23 Jul 07 |
UK |
CC |
Melamine in rice protein concentrate from China (via Germany) |
| 25 Jul 07 |
Spain |
CC |
Melamine in rice protein concentrate of origin unknown |
| 25 Jul 07 |
Poland |
CC |
Melamine in corn gluten from China |
| 26 Jul 07 |
Greece |
BC |
Melamine and related compounds in rice protein concentrate from China |
| 26 Jul 07 |
France |
BC |
Melamine in rice protein concentrate from China |
When the contamination is detected at the border, the product is detained and destroyed. When it’s detected by the company the status is not always clear as to whether food was distributed already.
Now why would melamine be present so often as a contaminant? Is this a repeated accident or is it put there on purpose? Let’s list some facts.
- The more protein present, the higher the market price.
- Melamine is a nitrogen-rich compound and when added to wheat gluten and rice protein concentrates, the protein amounts measured in standard protein assays are inflated.
- It was previously believed melamine was harmless. Though in combination with cyanuric acid (which is a metabolic by-product of melamine) this is not the case. Multiple pets died of kidney failure in the US after eating contaminated cat and dog food.
- Melamine has been found in rice protein, wheat gluten and corn gluten (the latter coming from South African media reports saying 30 dogs died). Adulterated corn gluten has, so far, not been detected in the US or the EU.
- Real protein costs about $6 and melamine only $1.60
So there’s a plausible motif: PROFITS! In order to obtain evidence the food plants in China will need to be investigated.
Meanwhile the pet food industry should switch to more advanced protein tests to distinguish these contaminations from actual protein. The standard nitrogen-based protein tests assume that all nitrogen in the sample is food protein consisting of nitrogen-based amino acids (carbohydrates and fats don’t contain nitrogen). This works only when there is no contamination. More advanced methods are better but it’s no surprise these also more expensive and more time consuming. And every alternative method has up and downsides as well.
