Melamine in big demand in China
2007-04-30 22:07
Beijing - Melamine is so popular as a
protein lookalike feed additive that at least one Chinese
manufacturer is believed to have torn down buildings to get to
leftover scraps, industry officials said on Monday.
Melamine, used in making plastic and fertilisers, was blamed
for killing pets in the United States and South America last
month after it was found in wheat gluten and rice protein
exported from China for use in pet food.
More than 100 brands of pet food were recalled, triggering a
round of finger-pointing among pet food suppliers in the US
China last week said it would ban melamine-tainted protein
products from export and from domestic markets.
Melamine scrap is believed to be commonly mixed in animal
feed in China to artificially boost the protein level,
especially in soymeal, tricking feedlots and farmers into paying
more for feed for chickens and pigs.
"The chemical plant next to us used the melamine scrap as
waste for landfill and built houses on it. Then they tore down
the buildings to get the scrap once the price rose," said a
manager with Tai'an Yongfeng Feedmill Co. Ltd in the coastal
province of Shandong.
Cutting corners
"It is a very popular business here. I know people have been
mixing this since 1991."
Shandong is the centre of China's poultry industry, which is
undergoing an industrial revolution as a wealthier population
demands more meat and poultry.
The industry has switched away from farmers raising a few
chickens in backyards for sale in covered markets, to packed
henhouses of thousands of birds that are slaughtered for
national distribution.
Thin margins mean the temptation to cut corners is strong,
especially for middlemen selling soymeal in bulk to small
feedlots.
"For every percent of protein you gain, you can make 55
yuan. So if you can turn 38% protein soymeal into 43% meal, you can make more than 200 yuan per tonne," said
the manager.
"Feed mills usually have poor equipment and they cannot
detect the chemical through tests, not even the big mills."
No regulations
"Fake" soymeal products were widely sold in Hebei and
Shandong provinces, the manager said.
Beijing has issued no regulations to ban the use of the
chemical in feed, said a China Feed Industry Association
official. He denied any knowledge of use of the additive in
feed.
But an official at the Shandong Mingshui Great Chemical
Group, which produces urea for fertiliser, said all of its
melamine scrap was sold to companies to boost the nitrogen
content in their feed products.
"They add very small amount of melamine scrap to the feed,
which does not lead to mass deaths of animals. But a few here
and there might react," said the manager at the Shandong
feedmill, who had not heard that the product had been linked to
pet deaths overseas.
"It might be another story for pets though."