Announcement

**Farmer** · September 24, 2008, 03:42 PM

Re: Dutch feed sector extra alert on melamine

Milk solids are used as a source of protein in multiple animal feeds. They are especially prevalent in 'milk replacers' fed to young cows, dairy goats, pigs, etc.

In animal feeds, protein sources are the most expensive element of feed and are selected for economy. This is why melamine has been so widely used to adulterate food - it is cheap, and it makes a poor quality food commodity worth more as it appears to increase the protein content.

If milk is locally less expensive than say fish meal, seed meal, meat and bone meal, or soy, then it may be preferentially used to feed a domestic animal whose digestive system tolerates it.

I think that the ultimate health consequences of using specific feed ingredients for animals is not always immediately apparent. For example, BSE is thought to be associated with the practice of feeding meat and bone meal to dairy cattle, or aflatoxicosis is associated with feeding contaminated corn to dogs or horses.

Of course wild animals may ingest natural toxins and contaminants in the environment as well...

**Gert van der Hoek** · September 24, 2008, 04:22 PM

Re: Dutch feed sector extra alert on melamine

Rush to find extent of NZ melamine contamination

Thursday, 25 September 2008

LATEST: Food safety officials are scrambling to determine the extent to which New Zealand-made foods have been contaminated with the toxic chemical melamine which has poisoned thousands of Chinese babies.

At least one New Zealand manufacturer has admitted producing food products contaminated with melamine.

"A New Zealand company undertaking precautionary testing has. . . found a minute amount of melamine in one of its highly processed products," the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) said last night.

The authority is also pulling Chinese White Rabbit Creamy Candies off New Zealand shelves as they contain unacceptably high levels of melamine.

The lollies are apparently made with Chinese milk and tests have shown they contain 180 parts per million of melamine.

"This product contains sufficiently high levels of melamine which may, in some individuals, cause health problems such as kidney stones," the authority said.

"The levels we have found in these products are unacceptable."

People worried they may have eaten the sweets should seek medical advice, it added.

"This is a serious concern," NZFSA deputy chief executive Sandra Daly said in a "privileged statement" which protects the organisation from lawsuits.

"We cannot discount the likelihood of health risks resulting from the consumption of these sweets"

The sweets appeared to come from a number of manufacturers through a range of importers.

The tainted milk scandal in China came to light after milk powder sold by various companies including New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra's Chinese partner San Lu was found to be contaminated with melamine.

In New Zealand-made foods one potential contamination pathway the authority is expected to check is whether the melamine is a residue from pesticide sprays.

Chan King-ming, an associate professor of biochemistry at a Chinese university, told the New Scientist magazine yesterday that cyromazine, a derivative of melamine, has been widely used in China as a pesticide.

In New Zealand, cyromazine has been used in a pesticide called Veterzine, and in June, the NZFSA published a list of contaminant levels it will allow in animal products, and specified a maximum permissible level of cyromazine and melamine in 0.3mg/kg in sheepmeats, and 0.15mg/kg in poultry and eggs.

According to Prof Chan, cyromazine is absorbed into plants as melamine and has spread through the food chain in animal feeds.

"It is not just in milk products, but also in farm products and animal feed, fish diet," he said.

Associate professor in applied biology and chemical technology at Hong Kong Polytechnic University Peter Yu said that though it was known melamine caused kidney stones and problems in the kidney, there could also be other ill effects in the longterm.

"These are ingredients that shouldn't be in food," he said.

NZFSA said the un-named manufacturer who found melamine in the NZ-made product claimed that similar levels are being found in the same product produced in other countries. NZFSA did not specify the food, but downplayed the significance of the find for perceptions of NZ food safety.

It suggested that the low levels of melamine reported could be a "coincidental consequence" of the manufacturing process.

NZFSA has said its officials are waiting on a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) scientific opinion on risks to human health associated with melamine in products that may have a low level of contamination.

There is a generally accepted "tolerable daily intake" of melamine in food in the EU (0.5mg for each kg of body weight daily) and in the US (0.63mg/kg of body weight/day).

But the NZFSA's principal adviser on toxicology, John Reeve, said that while the agency is aware of tolerable daily intake levels set by the EFSA and the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) it had not acceptable daily intake for New Zealand.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4705190a11.html

**Gert van der Hoek** · September 24, 2008, 04:32 PM

Re: Melamine in Animal Feeds

Melamine in Pesticides, Human Food Chain - Experts

Source: Reuters

23/09/2008

Hong Kong, Sept 23 - Melamine, a chemical that has tainted milk formula and made thousands of Chinese children ill, is used as an agricultural pesticide in China and may have been part of our food chain for a long time, experts said on Tuesday.

Chan King-ming, associate professor of biochemistry at the Chinese University, said cyromazine, a derivative of melamine, was very commonly used in China as a pesticide.

"It is absorbed into plants as melamine ... of course it is already in our food chain and animal feed," Chan said.

"So it is not just in milk products, but also in farm products and animal feed, fish diet," he said in an interview.

An Internet search for Chinese suppliers of cyromazine pesticides yielded many entries.

But experts were uncertain as to what this means for human health, or for people who may have been exposed to the chemical over the long term, albeit in very small amounts each time.

Of the thousands of Chinese children who have fallen ill with kidney stones, 80 percent are aged under two, and they would have relied almost entirely on the tainted formula milk for food.

No studies have so far been done on the harm melamine can cause human subjects.

"What we know is that melamine gives kidney stones and problems in the kidney," said Peter Yu, associate professor in applied biology and chemical technology at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

"But we don't know if there are other ill effects in the long term. These are ingredients that shouldn't be in food," he said.

Other experts have said that, while kidney stones can be removed easily, it is far more worrying that kidney damage and even failure can result when melamine starts crystallising in and blocking small kidney tubes that filter blood.

"VERY UNLIKELY TO POSE A HUMAN HEALTH RISK"

Melamine first turned up last year in Chinese pet food exported to the United States, where many cats and dogs developed acute kidney failure and died.

But in a report released in May 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said its investigations found that consuming "pork, chicken, fish and eggs from animals that had inadvertently been fed animal feed contaminated with melamine ... was very unlikely to pose a human health risk".

Citing other studies, Daniel Chan, nephrology professor at the University of Hong Kong, said: "Results from the investigations that followed the pet food incident in 2007 suggested the level of contamination in our food-chain was low and thus unlikely to cause significant adverse effect in humans".

Hong Kong placed a cap on melamine in food on Tuesday, restricting it to no more than 2.5 milligrams per kilogram, while melamine found in food for children under 3 and pregnant and lactating mothers should be no higher than 1 mg per kg.

Offenders could be jailed for up to six months and fined up to HK$50,000 (US$6,410).

But experts criticised the limits.

"That 1 mg limit is arbitrary. Like a lot of carcinogens, the limits are constantly being brought lower. 1 mg may be harmless, but over the long term, it is not good. Ideally, it should be banned, it shouldn't be allowed," Yu said.

http://www.flex-news-food.com/console/PageViewer.aspx?page=19300&source=alerts&contactid=33022

**Gert van der Hoek** · September 24, 2008, 04:36 PM

Re: Melamine in Animal Feeds

Snip from an article from New Zealand

Tests reveal one N Z manufacturer produces food products contaminated with melamine

- snip -

Big food companies overseas, such as Nestle, have said melamine is found throughout the food chain across the world in minute traces which do not represent any health risk for consumers.

There is a generally accepted "tolerable daily intake" of melamine in food in the EU (0.5mg for each kg of body weight daily) and in the US (0.63mg/kg of body weight/day).

Melamine traces which can be measured by commonly-used testing equipment down to levels of 2 parts per million - 20 times below these limits.

But the NZFSA's principal adviser on toxicology, John Reeve, said that while the agency is aware of tolerable daily intake levels set by the EFSA and the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) the "NZFSA has not yet established an ADI (acceptable daily intake) or its equivalent for New Zealand".

"Melamine on its own is not particularly toxic, however it is the combination of factors such as the presence of other substances in urine that appears to influence the development of crystals, (in the kidney)" Mr Reeve said.

- snip -

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http://www.hawkesbay.co.nz/index.php/200809254096/News/Local-News/Tests-reveal-one-N-Z-manufacturer-produces-food-products-contaminated-with-melamine.html

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**Treyfish** · September 24, 2008, 05:07 PM

Re: Melamine in Animal Feeds

Suspect Hangzhou Wild Animals World orangutan Sanlu milk powder have to eat stones 2008-09-25 03:18:35

Dr Ling-Li single in the sixth to the hair for B-ultrasound photo correspondent Han Dan
{snip}

This piece of news, I am afraid that many people in last night's television news has been seen - Hangzhou Wild Animals World orangutan red "six gross" and "Seven Mao", yesterday found the stone. According to the World Wildlife that regard, they drink a long time, it is Sanlu milk powder.

The news clues, we received yesterday, 9:30 - Hangzhou Wild Animals World Marketing manager Juli Kerry called the initiative to inform - 1:00 p.m., with six to hair, hair and a small seven Lions to a medical examination "They have been eating milk Sanlu. Raisers say they are not good appetite, yellow urine, we would like to check them, looking for a few large hospitals, said busy on the election of the Animal Hospital of Hangzhou Zhang Xu . "In fact, almost all of the media have received the notice.

Reporters gathered Animal Hospital
13:00, reporters earlier than animals, animals gathered in the hospital.
Mao and six to seven hair, animal doctors give them the single-Ling-Li took a urine, ZHU Lei examiner to conduct sediment testing. Is to put urine on low-speed centrifuge separation, after a few minutes left, the top test-tube will be isolated from urine in the water, urine is lower in all kinds of material.
Ling-Li and then single-B with seven hair into the super-room.
Mao was seven on May 30, 2007 born. Orangutan up with a wild animal veterinary medicine in the world, said Liu Jianxun, seven hair is to eat the beginning of September last year, San Lu's milk. Liu Jianxun also hands with a bag of green packaging of Sanlu U + milk powder. Production for the period May 8, 2008.
More than 10 minutes after the turn of the six super-B hair done. Six 3-year-old hair is full. Ling-Li found that a single, six hair some thick wall of the bladder, "is surely a matter of inflammation." She said.
Mao six, seven hair found in urine, there are crystals
Urine test results, six hair, seven were detected in hair end ...

http://209.85.171.104/translate_c?hl...tSJxvgscAYoc4w

**Treyfish** · October 2, 2008, 04:53 AM

Re: Melamine in Animal Feeds

MELAMINE CONTAMINATION, ANIMAL FEED: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
<TABLE class=formlayout id=apex_layout_271110100662109808 summary=""><TBODY><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Published Date</TD><TD noWrap align=left>01-OCT-2008</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

[1]
Date: Thu 25 Sep 2008
Source: Reuters UK [edited]
<http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUKTRE48O20H20080925>

Two gorillas are suspected of becoming the latest victims of China's
tainted milk-powder health scandal, showing the early signs of kidney
stones, local media reported on Thursday [25 Sep 2008].

The gorillas, both from Hangzhou Wildlife World in eastern Zhejiang
province and aged one and 3, had been diagnosed with crystallization
in their urine, according to a report on the Hangzhou newspaper
website <http://www.hangzhou.com.cn>.

Both had been fed with milk powder made by Sanlu Group, at the heart
of the scandal in which 4 infants have died and thousands have fallen
sick with kidney stones.

The company has said the infants became sick after drinking milk
contaminated by melamine, a compound used in making plastics and
added to cheat nutrition tests.

"The crystallization now is very small, but it will grow bigger and
then block the urine," Zhang Xu, a doctor from the animal hospital
where the 2 gorillas were being treated, was quoted as saying. "No
visible stones have been found so far," Zhang added.

Kidney stones are small, solid masses that form when salts or
minerals normally found in urine crystallize inside the kidney.

If they become large enough, they can move out of the kidney, cause
infection and lead to permanent kidney damage.

[Edited by Nick Macfie, Sanjeev Miglani]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Susan Baekeland

******
[2]
Date: Fri 26 Sep 2008
Source: The West Australian [edited]
<http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=2&ContentID=99861>

A Chinese zoo is checking its animals after a lion cub and 2
orangutans were found to be developing kidney stones from drinking
contaminated powdered milk, state media reported today [26 Sep 2008].

The 3-month-old African cub at the zoo near the eastern city of
Hangzhou was under medical supervision after tests showed he was in
the early stages of developing kidney stones, the Beijing Morning
Post said.

Zookeepers fed the animals Sanlu milk powder -- a product discovered
to be contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine -- the report
said, adding the milk brand was introduced at the zoo 2 years ago.

More than 53 000 Chinese infants have fallen ill after drinking
contaminated milk and 4 have died in what has become a national food
safety crisis.

Dairy producers added the chemical, which is normally used to make
plastics, to their milk to make it test richer in protein.

Worried zoo staff brought the lion, along with 15-month-old orangutan
Qimao and her 3-year-old brother Liumao, to the veterinarian yesterday
[25 Sep 2008], the newspaper reported. Urinalysis and ultrasound
images confirmed zookeepers' fears, the report said. "The crystal is
at an early stage of stone development as it is still as small as a
pen point," a veterinarian identified only by the surname Shan, was
quoted as saying about the orangutans' condition. A kidney stone
begins as a tiny crystal.

The zoo planned to test other animals over the coming days, the report said.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Susan Baekeland

[Additional information regarding melamine may be found at the FAO
(UN Food and Agriculture Organisation) website
<http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/chemicals_melamine_en.asp>.

Although many countries and regulatory agencies are carefully
monitoring human dry milk and dry milk products, this piece
demonstrates the potentially overlooked issue of milk products for
many young animals. Are countries checking animal milk substitute
products? Are regulatory agencies and veterinarians looking for
intoxication in young animals?

Some veterinary groups have done some research in some young species.
Young domestic animals such as calves, lambs & kid goats are
functionally non-ruminants, and could potentially suffer renal failure
just as pets did in 2007 -- see ProMED archives below. Adult cows
appear to be able to handle melamine as a non-protein source, but it
has been shown in some research that adult sheep may also be sensitive
to melamine.

This article clearly indicates melamine may be contaminating animal
milk products. We are requesting more information on what regulatory
agencies and veterinarians are doing regarding checking for affected
animals and checking milk products for animals. - Mod.TG]

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?..._ID:1000,74194

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Melamine in Animal Feeds

Melamine in Animal Feeds

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