FAQs About Melamine Contamination
Compiled by the U.S. News library staff
What is melamine?
Melamine is an organic compound that, when combined with formaldehyde, produces a fire- and heat-resistant resin. Melamine is used to make plastics including floor tiles, whiteboards, and kitchenware. Melamine was considered non- or minimally toxic until veterinary scientists determined that it was the cause of possibly thousands of dog and cat renal (kidney) failures and deaths after pet food was contaminated with the industrial chemical. Melamine has also been recently discovered in livestock feed that more than a million hogs and chickens are believed to have eaten.
How did melamine get into the animal food supply?
FDA officials believe the pet food and livestock feed were produced usingcontaminated wheat gluten and rice protein that were sold to a U.S. pet food maker by two Chinese companies. U.S. officials believe the companies added melamine to the grains to boost the protein content–and the price–of the wheat gluten and rice protein.
Should people worry about eating food made from animals that ate the melamine-contaminated feed?
No. Melamine is unlikely to pose a threat to humans even if small amounts of it are found in the American food supply, according to toxicologists monitoring for the industrial chemical in food. The FDA reports that only a small portion of what was fed to the poultry and hogs was tainted and would most likely have been excreted before the animals were slaughtered for human consumption. Also, human diets are more varied than dog and cat diets. Because pets tend to eat the same products every day, while humans consumedifferent foods, only a small portion of a human diet might contain the contaminated products.
What steps is the federal government taking to protect the American food supply?
The FDA has announced that it has created a senior position to supervise the agency's regulation of food safety. The assistant commissioner of food safety–the "food safety czar"–will set up a food safety strategy so the FDA can head off a crisis before it occurs.
The FDA will also begin testing six imported food ingredients–wheat and corn glutens, rice, soy proteins, corn meal, and rice bran–for melamine. In addition, the agency plans to test a variety of foods and animal feed to determine the extent of the melamine contamination.
Congress has started investigating how the FDA polices food imports. Legislative proposals include the creation of one food safety agency.
How will consumers be affected by the melamine contamination?
Since many pet food brands were recalled because of the melamine contamination, pet food owners are opting to buy organic and premium pet food, with some opting to make their own pet food.
Before the current crises, consumers were more likely to buy Chinese-manufactured wheat and rice byproducts because they were cheaper than U.S.-manufactured products. Now, since the onset of the contamination, there is a renewed interest in the U.S. wheat and rice byproduct industry, which has not been affected by the contamination.
Sources:
Associated Press
Chemical & Engineering News
Chicago Tribune
New York Times
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Washington Post
wiseGEEK.com