FDA: Fish Intended for Humans Were Fed Tainted Food

U.S. health officials announced Tuesday that fish intended to be used for human consumption were fed meal that had been contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine. The startling discovery was made during the investigation into the melamine-tainted pet food scare last month that caused thousands of cats to fall ill and dozens to die from the poison.

Two Chinese firms are already under investigation for having shipped adulterated and mislabeled wheat flour, poisoned with melamine, to the United States and Canada. In the U.S. the flour was used to make pet food, and in Canada, it was used to make fish meal. Dr. David Acheson, the FDA’s assistant commissioner for food protection, told reporters that the meal was shipped from Canada to companies in the United States, to be used to feed fish in fish farms and stocked ponds and lakes.

Meanwhile, authorities are detaining the manager of Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd., one of the Chinese companies being investigated. U.S. pet food distributors have identified Binzhou as the company that sold them the wheat flour used to make their pet food, which was later found to be tainted with melamine. The flour had been mislabeled as rice protein concentrate or wheat gluten, so the U.S. companies did not know they were introducing dangerous chemicals into the pet food supply by using the tainted flour in their products.

Tian Feng, the manager of Binzhou, has been detained since April 25, the day his company was shut down by local police. Tian told reporters from his detention center that he didn’t do anything wrong. "I don’t know about melamine," he said. "I don’t even know what this melamine is. I have never heard of anyone using it." Chinese law allows for authorities to hold Tian for 30 days while his company is investigated, but beyond that he must be tried or released.

Acheson would not reveal which states received the tainted fish meal, but he said that people should not be alarmed or worry about eating any fish who consumed the meal. "We do not believe that there is any significant risk associated with consuming these fish," he said. He added that investigators are visiting each of the companies involved "to determine exactly what they are doing with the fish."

Acheson told reporters that federal officials believe the Chinese substituted wheat flour for wheat gluten and rice-protein concentrate, and then attempted to make the end result appear to be the protein-rich substances they were labeled to be by adulterating them. Officials have explained that melamine, which has no food value, is used to make plastics and fertilizer.

Because melamine is rich in nitrogen, it can make products seem higher in protein if it is added to them, and therefore higher prices can be charged. "If your measurement of protein is actually measuring nitrogen, what you've got is a wheat-based pellet that appears to have high protein because the nitrogen is high, due to the addition of melamine," Acheson said.

Since the FDA began its investigation into the tainted pet food in March, the agency has received thousands of complaints from pet owners saying that the contaminated food sickened or killed their pets. After it was discovered recently that swine and poultry had been fed contaminated scraps from the pet food makers in question, the investigation was expanded to include other food sources, and that’s when the tainted fish meal was discovered.

Authorities this week were quick to reassure the public that investigators had performed a risk assessment to take into account the "dilution factor" involved in the chain of contamination, meaning that the amount of tainted food eaten by people would be much less than the amount of tainted pet food that proved to be fatal to household pets. Health official say that the pork and poultry products affected by the melamine contamination present an extremely low risk to people.

Dr. Kenneth Petersen of the Food Safety and Inspection Service said that 20 million chickens that had been fed contaminated feed tested negative for melamine. The chickens had been held until test results came back, but have since been approved for slaughter and sale. Tests on thousands of other birds have not yet been processed, and nearly three million birds have already made their way to supermarket shelves. About 50,000 swine ate the contaminated feed, and they are being held awaiting test results.