POISONED PET FOOD:

MEANWHILE BACK IN CHINA:

Slowly and ponderously the Chinese government has moved to blame at least two companies and individuals for the melamine contamination of vegetable protein exports. The actions are likely due to a slowly developing idea in the tiny bureaucratic mind of just how damaging this will be for China's trade. A report from the International Herald Tribune says that China "has found two companies guilty in tainted food export". The article also says that China has convicted the companies of not only adulteration but also of fraud in mislabelling their products. While now admitting that melamine indeed contaminated the exports from the two companies implicated the Chinese government still insists that there is no evidence of widespread us of melamine and cyanuric acid to adulterate protein concentrates despite numerous reports from articles such as the one above that the practice has been widespread for some time.

According to a report in USA Today this morning Tian Feng, manager of Binzhou Futian Biology Technology, says from his jail cell in Binzhou, that he did nothing wrong, and that he was unaware of the addition of the melamine. His factory was closed by the government on April 25th and will presumably be inspected by visitors from the American FDA.

The other company involved, Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Inc., will not be inspected. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times the owner, Mao Lijun, had the factory demolished late last month in the dead of night shortly before he was arrested. Nothing to inspect; no inspection. How convenient ! The article goes on to stress that this factory had caused considerable damage in the area where it was located because of the pollution that it generated, but nothing was done despite repeated complaints from farmers in the area.