Canada's food watchdog to expand screening checks for melamine

Canada's food watchdog is beefing up its monitoring program, and will hold and test shipments of all vegetable proteins being brought into the country.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency saidMonday itis expanding the scope of its inspection program, which previously focused on imports of wheat, rice, soy, and corn gluten and protein concentrates from China.

"Vegetable protein products imported from all countries will require documentation such as valid test results or evidence of testing indicating freedom from melamine and cyanuric acid contamination before they may be used in feed or food," the federal agency said in a release.

Melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers, was found in more than 100 brands of contaminated pet food that were recalled from the marketplace in Canada and the United States in mid-March. The manufacturers had used tainted wheat flour imported from China.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has fielded about 17,000 consumer calls about contaminated pet food and related pet illnesses since March.

CFIA officials in late May said they had intercepted one shipment of corn gluten imported from China that tested positive for melamine and cyanuric acid.

Shrimp feed with melamine recalled

Meanwhile, a U.S.-based company is recalling its shrimp feed products because they contain melamine, the FDA said.

The recall applies to Zeigler Bros. Inc.'s pelleted and crumbled shrimp feeds, which were made with the ingredient AquaBond.

Last Thursday, the FDA recalled fish and shrimp feeds made by Ohio-based Tembec BTLSR, a division of the Canadian company Tembec Inc. The FDA said the manufacturer had intentionally used melamine and other chemical compounds as an additive in its AquaBond and Aqua-Tec II products.

The recalled feed also contained a urea formaldehyde resin, officials said.