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China to tighten control of feed industry: state media

China officials covered up maggot outbreak in oranges: report
Authorities in southwestern China failed for more than a month to raise an alarm over an epidemic of maggots in mandarin oranges, state media reported on Friday. The problem came to national attention in recent days via text messages warning of the affected fruits, but authorities in Sichuan province knew as early as September 23, the Beijing News said. The report said authorities in the city of Guangyuan were told of the problem two days after it was first discovered in tens of thousands of trees in the area.

However, it was not publicly announced until last week, it added. "Word of the problem affected sales of mandarin oranges nationwide, but Sichuan's provincial agriculture authorities did not hold a news conference on the subject for a full month afterward," it said. The report said local Sichuan authorities took some measures to control the problem, but numerous Chinese media reports have said the affected fruits continued to be sold across the country for weeks afterward. State-run CCTV led off its midday news program Friday with a brief item pronouncing the mandarin oranges sold in some other provinces were safe to eat, but did not mention those in Sichuan.

by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Nov 1, 2008
China has pledged to tighten supervision of the animal feed industry, state media said Saturday, amid signs a toxic chemical found in milk and eggs was being mixed into livestock feed.

"The ministry will tighten its supervision of the feed industry and crack down on producers who add melamine to their products," the China Daily quoted Wang Zhicai, head of the Agriculture Ministry's livestock division as saying.

Melamine, an industrial chemical normally used to make plastic, was first found to have been added to milk in China, leading to the death of four infants and sickening at least 53,000 other people.

The chemical -- which can lead to severe kidney problems if ingested in large amounts -- was then discovered in Chinese eggs, leading to concerns the chemical was much more prevalent in China's food chain than initially believed.

Wang acknowledged that the ministry issued a regulation in June last year banning the addition of melamine into livestock feed, according to a transcript of the interview on its website.

"Anyone who adds melamine into feed is acting against the law, we must resolutely combat this," Wang said.

The ministry also introduced a "rigid" standard to test the level of melamine in feed, Wang said, following a scandal over contaminated feed exported to the United States that killed hundreds of pets there.

Despite this, experts have indicated melamine could still be being mixed into animal feed to make it appear higher in protein, and concerns are mounting that the practice is widespread.

In an editorial published on Friday, the China Daily said it was unclear whether melamine had found its way into other types of food.

"We hope it has not. But if fodder can be confirmed as the source of contamination for both the eggs and milk, action must be taken to check how widespread the use of this chemical is in the fodder industry," the paper said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese company blamed for selling the original batch of melamine-tainted eggs to Hong Kong is suing its feed provider, according to the official People's Daily newspaper.

The brief report on Friday said an investigation by the company, Hanwei, found that livestock feed provided by Xinmin Mingxing company contained melamine.

Both companies are based in the northeastern province of Liaoning.

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Melamine-tainted milk products found in Vietnam
Hanoi (AFP) Oct 3, 2008
Vietnam's food safety watchdog said Friday it had found the industrial chemical melamine in 18 milk and dairy products imported from China as well as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.







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