After examining 22,700 batches of animal feed in the country, only 2.39 percent were found with excessive melamine content, the National Feed Office, under the Ministry of Agriculture, said on Saturday.

The office started its investigations when eggs shipped from the mainland to Hong Kong were found with melamine due to feed problems in October.

Melamine content higher than 2 parts per million (ppm) is considered excessive, the office said.

Following the detection of the chemical substance in feed, 27 cases have been transferred to the police for further investigation, Wang Xiaohong, director of the office's feed division, said.

Wang was speaking at an annual meeting on the nation's feed additives held in the southern city over the weekend.

China began investigating melamine in feed in early 2007 and banned its use in June 2007, after wheat gluten for pet food exported to the US was found with excessive melamine content.

A revised version of the feed additive catalogue has been recently released, Wang said.

"More than 50 new additives, which can be used, have been included in the new version of the catalogue," he said.

"Those not named are strictly forbidden.

"Melamine is the key illegal additive China is trying to crackdown on," said Wang.

The country increased its efforts to deal with the problem after milk and eggs, which had been tainted with melamine, were found in the market in September.

"The safety of feed will, in the end, decide the health of human beings," Sha Yusheng, deputy secretary-general of China Feed Industry Association, said.

Feed suppliers should stay alert against all factors, either man-made or natural, that may lead to safety risks, said Sha.

Official statistics indicate that China is the largest feed and feed additive exporter after the US and its output is estimated to be 131 million tons in 2008.

Wang said the National Feed Office was working on amending the 1999 regulation on the management of feed and feed additives.

"The amendment is almost complete, and hopefully, the new version of the regulation will be released in January before the Spring Festival," he said.

Many inconsistencies have cropped up in the existing regulation, said Wang.

He added that the amendment was necessary to standardize industrial administration.

China will also strengthen the market threshold for feed and its additive producers, and improve the risk analysis and safety evaluation mechanism, he said.

(China Daily December 15, 2008)