China holds feed maker on melamine-tainted eggs

05 November 2008 08:09  [Source: ICIS news]

SHANGHAI(ICIS news)--China has detained an animal feed producer believed to have supplied melamine-tainted feed to Dalian-based Hanwei Group, following findings that eggs it exported to Hong Kong were contaminated with the toxic chemical, state media reported late on Tuesday.

 

The local government of Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province in northeastern China, held a press conference to make the announcement that Shenyang Xinmin City Mingxing Feed Factory had bought a total of 45 tonnes of melamine-tainted bio-protein feed ingredient in two batches from other provinces.

 

The tainted ingredient was then mixed them with other feeds to produce more than 200 tonnes of refined feed for chicken. The remaining 75-tonne tainted feed of the company had been destroyed, according to Xinhua news.

 

Traces of the chemical used on plastics and fertilizers were found in eggs produced in Hubei, Shanxi and Liaoning provinces in China.

 

According to an earlier bulletin from Ministry of Agriculture, the egg producer in Shanxi province involved in the melamine-in-egg case had been under police custody.

 

Chinese authorities have been tightening quality control in the feed and food industry following the outbreak of the melamine-in-milk power scandal in September that killed at least four infants and made more than 50,000 children ill in China.

 

Many cities started the inspection and supervision on egg producers and feeds producers after the detection of melamine-tainted eggs was reported in Hong Kong.

 

Some melamine buyers in China were under investigation for allegedly having added the chemical to milk products and animal feeds to make them appear rich in protein content.

 

Dolly Wu contributed to this article.

 

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