China has carried out inspections on feed manufacturers nationwide to root out those found using excessive amounts of the chemical melamine after exposure of tainted milk and eggs scandals.

People choose eggs in a supermarket of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on November 1, 2008. The Ministry of Agriculture has carried out inspections on feed manufacturers nationwide to root out those found using excessive amounts of the chemical melamine after exposure of tainted milk and eggs scandals.

The Agriculture Ministry has sent more than 369,000 inspectors to 250,000 feed producers. Inspectors clamped down 238 illegal feed makers and investigated 278 illegally-operating companies and farms, said Wang Zhicai, director of the ministry's husbandry and livestock division.

A total of 3,682 tons of substandard feed were confiscated and destroyed, he said.

A ministry rule issued on June 1, 2007 banned the use of melamine in feed production, he said.

The melamine-tainted eggs produced by Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group and found in Hong Kong is a separate case and using melamine in feed production is not an underlying industry rule, he added.

Hong Kong's Center for Food Safety (CFS) said on Oct. 26 the sample of the Select Fresh Brown Eggs (Extra Large), produced by Dalian Hanwei Chicken Farming Limited and sold in 6-piece packs, was found to contain 4.7 ppm (part per million) of melamine, above the government legal limit of 2.5 ppm for melamine in food.

"Producers violating the rule will face severe punishment. They could have their business license revoked and face criminal charges," he said.

Wang said the ministry would make stricter supervision over feed production.

The tainted milk scandal was exposed on July 16 after 16 babies, who were fed milk made from powder produced by Sanlu Group, developed kidney stones.

In the scandal, melamine, often used in the manufacture of plastics, was added to substandard or diluted milk to make protein levels appear higher. At least three infants died and more than 50,000 were sickened after prolonged drinking the contaminated milk.

(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2008)