China blocks US shipments amid food safety row
Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates - 5 hours ago

China announces offensive on food and drug quality
Times Online, UK - 18 hours ago

Chinese food safety officials urge tighter surveillance over exports
CBC News, Canada - Jun 6, 2007
 

"This scandal has had severe consequences for the whole industry," said Chuk Ng, general manager of Nutrogen (Dalian) Co. Ltd, a company specializing in organic and non-genetically modified (GMO) farm products.

"Now the European and U.S. clients are checking every batch of products coming from China ... The GMO test is one. Now you add tests for melamine or other heavy metals or pesticides, the costs are very high, too high," Ng said.

Foreign buyers, reluctant to take risks, are sending large quantities of food samples to international testing specialists such as Eurofins Scientific or SGS Group.

Commentary: Chinese Pet Food Tricks  (May 15) (full article)
China's reaction to international economic criticism is often to fix the problem -- fast....
......The pet food fiasco is only the latest in a string of Chinese food and drug safety problems. In Panama, at least 51 people have died since October after using cough syrup tainted with a chemical cousin of antifreeze; the deadly ingredient originated in China....
....Corruption is a problem, too. Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of the Chinese equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration, is accused of taking up to $780,000 in bribes in exchange for approving unproven medicines; one antibiotic is said to have killed more than 10 people.    original article:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117909191121301307.html

Pressure China to improve food safety (May 15)
Now the poisoned Chinese food chain has reached out across the world well beyond the recall of 60 million (as of now) packages of pet food: catfish illegally contaminated with antibiotics; counterfeit glycerin that is named as the cause of at least 365 deaths in Panama; chickens that had to be destroyed because of tainted Chinese food; severe malnutrition in Chinese children from fake milk powder; soy sauce made from human hair; cuttlefish soaked in calligraphy ink to improve their color, and eels fed contraceptive pills to make them grow longer and slimmer.

China Detains Two In Pet Food Recall  (May 9)
China launched a food and drug safety crackdown on Wednesday, following an announcement that authorities detained managers from two companies linked to contaminated pet food that killed dogs and cats in North America.

China Acts on Food Safety After Pet Poisoning  (May 9)


Pet Food Recall Spreads To Fish, FDA Says Ingredients Mislabeled (May 8)
Additionally, federal officials said it’s wheat flour, not wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate, that is at the heart of the massive pet food recall after the death and illness of thousands of cats and dogs from kidney failure.

At a press conference held Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Agriculture Department announced that wheat flour, mislabeled as wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate, is actually the melamine-contaminated ingredient that has been the focus of a massive pet food recall, not wheat gluten or rice protein concentrate as previously believed and told the American public.

US: Pet Food Ingredient Mislabeled  (May 7)
China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement last week that the contaminated vegetable protein managed to get past customs without inspection because it had not been declared for use in pet food. 

US: Pet Food Ingredient Mislabeled  (May 5)
The exporter of a contaminated pet food ingredient blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats in the United States may have avoided Chinese export inspections by labeling it a nonfood product.

According to the Chinese government, Xuzhou Anying did not declare the contaminated wheat gluten it shipped to the United States as a raw material for feed or food. Rather, according to the Chinese government, it was declared to them as nonfood product, meaning that it was not subject to mandatory inspection by the Chinese government.

Food Standards Agency Warning On Ugandan Baby Food - UK (May 5)
The Food Standards Agency is advising parents and carers not to feed their babies with a particular batch of: 'Baby Soya with Enkejje makes a Stout Baby'.

Sampling has shown that this particular batch of powdered baby food is contaminated with the bacterium Enterobacter sakazakii, which can be harmful to babies and infants. The Agency does not currently have distribution details for this product but the contaminated sample was taken in London.

Was pet-food ingredient mislabeled? (May 5)
China orders nationwide inspections of food supply (May 4)
China Now Testing Food for Chemicals (May 4)
Cheap Imports Stifle US Wheat Gluten  (May 4)
Report on Pet Food Recall Company (May 4)
Arrest Made in Pet Food Contamination Investigation (May 4)
Xuzhou Anying's manager, Mao Lijun, had been detained by Chinese authorities, although no details about possible charges against him have been released.

Exporter in pet food recall may have avoided inspections  (May 4)
The company didn't produce the tainted wheat gluten, but may have purchased it from as many as 25 different suppliers. The New York Times reports that the company's manager has been detained although there's no word on possible charges.

 

wheat gluten

South Africa pet food products found melamine in corn gluten.  Soon North America was reporting melamine in corn gluten products.

corn gluten

The ongoing crisis is a symptom of a far bigger problem—the limitations of the United States’ food safety program, a program that “was really put together some 70 years ago and just doesn’t work well at all now that we’re in this global marketplace,” Gary Weaver, veterinary pathologist at the University of Maryland.

Tomorrow there’ll be another unknown—a virus, a bacteria, a chemical—and it’ll get through,” he said. “You’re always prepared to fight the last war. You’re always covering yesterday’s tracks,” but we need our regulatory agencies to be proactive, not reactive, Weaver said.
Pet Food, Our Food - Melamine & Cyanuric Acid: Some facts on health & safety (May 2)
Pet Food Deaths Baffle Scientists (May 2)
 

China use of Melamine is common - "in big demand"...
China Has Been Spiking Cat & Dog Food All Along  (May 1)
Melamine in big demand in China as a food additive (April 30)

Chemical behind pet food recall common in Chinese feed (April 30)
In the United States, it is feared as a killer of cats and dogs and a potential threat to humans.  Yet in China, the mildly toxic chemical melamine is commonly used in animal feed and is even praised by some customers, according to the managers of a feed company and one of the chemical's producers.

Filler in Animal Feed Is Open Secret in China (April 30)
China's use of malmine in foods nothing new  (April 29)

Pet Food Fall-Out Continues, with Recalls, FDA Raids, Lawsuits (April 27)
China is willing to strengthen cooperation with the U.S. side ... to find out the real cause leading to the pet deaths in order to protect the health of the pets of the two countries.

Pet food recall expanded  (April 20)
It was said that the Chinese refused to grant visas to FDA inspectors seeking to visit the plants where the ingredients were made. FDA later said the visas were not refused but the necessary invitation letter to get visas had not been received from China.

China Yields to Inquiry on Pet Food - (April 24)
China Probes Link To Pet Food Deaths, Beijing Says It's ...  (April 06)

THERE IS HISTORY