China finally admits food safety clean up will be ‘arduous’

But reporters from the New York Times, David Barboza and Alexei Barrionuevo, found that the pet food was largely poisoned by a chemical reaction which included a product called melamine, which is used in fertiliser and plastics, mixed with wheat gluten. Using this formula, Chinese manufacturers reduced production costs while still charging customers top dollar: as if beef or other high quality products had been used in the pet food.

Melamine is a prohibited substance in American pet food according to the US Food and Drug Administration. However, melamine is a widely accepted fertiliser in China. And farmers mix it into livestock feed, pet food and other products because it is plentiful, inexpensive and usually undetected.

When the New York Times reporters in China followed up on this story, they asked some farmers why China couldn’t just stomp out those few using melamine. Farmers told them everyone used melamine this way since the 1950s. The use of melamine is not restricted to a few isolated production houses: it is everywhere in Chinese agriculture.

Finally, many believe that there is a “culture of corruption” within China that has a tendency to bend public pronouncements towards what the public wants to hear and not towards the truth.