Melamine Contamination Prompts FDA Letter

As the melamine contamination trail widened from pet food to feed for hogs, poultry and fish destined for human consumption, the following letter was issued to registered food and feed manufacturers by the FDA. The letter, issued by Robert E. Brackett, Ph.D., Director Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and Stephen F. Sundlof, D.V.M., Ph.D., Director Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in part: manufacturers are encouraged to make sure they have procedures in place that ensure the safety of the ingredients in their products, as well as the safety of the packaging and processing supplies they use. Manufacturers should also verify that their suppliers have such procedures in place. The agency advised manufacturers to visit www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/alert.html for additional information.

FDA announced that, in conjunction with state regulatory authorities, it will inspect various food and feed facilities and will be collecting and testing for the presence of melamine in a variety of common protein ingredients and finished products containing them, including wheat gluten, corn gluten, corn meal, soy protein, and rice protein concentrate. However, it said that Over the next few weeks, the assignment may expand in size and scope to include additional types of protein concentrates and finished products.

During these inspections, FDA will reiterate to the food and feed industry the importance of assuring the safety and security of their ingredients and products by knowing their manufacturing and packaging operators, ingredient suppliers, contract manufacturers and sources for all incoming materials. FDA will collect samples primarily during inspections of domestic food manufacturers or, in the case of imports, at the point of entry. The samples will be analyzed at a variety of laboratories that are part of the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN).

The letter was also posted on FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition's website at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/protltr.html.

In a related development, FDA announced at a news conference that it has discovered that some of the ingredients that were suspect protein were actually wheat flour adulterated with melamine, including some shipments labeled rice protein. Additionally, it revealed that agency officials in China have visited the two exporters of contaminated product, but found their facilities have been closed. The agencies have said Chinese officials are cooperating with the investigation. A complete transcript of the news conference can be found at http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2007/05/0138.xml.