China Yields to US Pressure and Will Allow FDA Inspection

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that China has yielded to diplomatic pressure from the US and will allow FDA inspectors into the country to investigate the Chinese manufacturers who are believed to have triggered the largest pet food recall in US history after selling melamine tainted wheat gluten, corn gluten, and rice protein complex to US pet food manufacturing companies. The FDA is investigating two Chinese companies that allegedly sold ingredients deliberately laced with an industrial chemical, melamine, to US companies.

Melamine raises the nitrogen level in these products, and the nitrogen level is tested to determine protein content. The price the company can charge is based on protein content, so a higher nitrogen level raises the price the company can charge for the product. Investigators believe the Chinese companies deliberately added melamine to the products to raise the price. The Chinese companies have said that the products were "never intended to be used in human food" but have said nothing about the thousands of pets who reportedly have died from eating food tainted with melamine. "If the melamine level is high, it must have been added intentionally." Liu Laiting, a professor of animal sciences at the Henan University of Technology. "The amine in melamine can boost the protein level in tests, because it has chemical element N. It's also likely to increase the adhesiveness of the gluten." Mr. Liu added that melamine was hard to detect in ordinary tests.

Previously the Chinese government had refused to allow FDA investigators into the country, but a diplomatic campaign headed by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois has pressured the Chinese to capitulate. The FDA has opened a criminal investigation into the pet food tragedy but so far has not named the target of the investigation. It is believed that Menu Food, the first and largest US manufacturer who used put out tainted food products, will face criminal charges for failing to act even when they were notified animals were getting sick and dying from their products.

Experts predict that if the investigation determines the melamine was added deliberately to boost price it could have a serious impact on US-China trade relations. It could also seriously decrease agricultural trade with China since consumer confidence in commercial pet food is at an all-time low right now. The incident has brought to light the lack of regulation and oversight of the manufacturing of pet foods and many pet activists are now demanding sweeping reforms in the pet food industry.