China Makes Arrests In Pet Food Case

(CBS/AP)  China launched a campaign Wednesday to boost food and drug safety, following an announcement that authorities have detained managers from two companies linked to contaminated pet food that killed dogs and cats in North America.

State media, meanwhile, reported the country's disgraced former top drug regulator would go on trial this month on charges of taking bribes to approve untested medicine.

The ongoing revelations have shed a harsh light on China's notoriously lax enforcement of food and drug safety, sparking fears that exported products could contaminate food supplies abroad.

Food heading overseas will face tougher inspections, reports CBS News' Cynthia Hatton(audio). One of the arrested managers reportedly shopped online for melamine, a chemical used in plastics, fertilizers and flame retardants.

Few details were given about the detentions, which follow a U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigation sparked by the pet deaths and a recall of nearly 100 brands of pet food made with the tainted ingredients.

The FDA discovered melamine in the pet food and traced the contaminated foodstuff to the Chinese companies.

In a notice on its Web site, China's government body responsible for overseeing food safety said police had opened cases against individuals at the two companies blamed for the melamine tainting — Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd. and Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd.

It said police had placed an unspecified number of individuals "under monitoring," but gave no other details.

"Relevant departments will deal strictly with the lawbreaking companies and those responsible according to the results of the investigation," the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on its Web site.

Separately, the State Council, or Cabinet, said the nationwide crackdown would compel companies to adopt "standards used in food-importing countries ... and test products which will be used to make animal feed or food for humans."

The government must "strengthen its investigations into protein products, especially melamine," the notice said.

The government's actions come as China faces criticism from the U.S. and European Union for what they allege are unfair trade practices. For China, the tainted food scandal could reinforce those negative perceptions, inciting a backlash that could see Chinese food products banned, potentially crimping already hard-pressed Chinese farmers.

China's exports of seafood, food additives and other such products compete strongly on price but have been repeatedly singled out for contamination or low quality. For example, the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama recently banned catfish from China after tests found ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin, antibiotics banned for use in the United States.

In another embarrassing disclosure, The New York Times reported recently that a Chinese company sold diethylene glycol, a chemical cousin of antifreeze, that ended up in medicine that killed at least 51 people in Panama.

The agency that sets regulator standards for food and drug safety has been in disarray for years. Its director, Zheng Xiaoyu, was dismissed in 2005 and has since been accused of taking up to 6 million yuan ($780,000) in bribes to approve untested medicines, including an antibiotic that killed at least 10 patients.

Zheng is scheduled to go on trial in mid-May, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The quality inspection administration said Xuzhou Anying and Binzhou Futian were both listed as having exported melamine-spiked rice protein and wheat gluten to the United States.

U.S. inspectors said the tainted gluten was used to make pet food and caused the deaths of an unknown number of dogs and cats through liver failure.

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[comfortmd1]

china is simply making a face saving maneuver. they realize that with strongly subsidized food exports flooding this country, even our agricultural industry is going to self-destruct, just like our manufacturing has already. it is economic warfare, plain and simple.

[grammawhamma]

Our pets died of kidney failure not liver failure as the article states...does no one proof read these articles? Why is cyanuric acid allowed in foods at all? My dogs get home cooking now....and love it. Wonder how long "people" food will be safe.

[memerider]

China has never demonstrated strong ethics in any area--human rights, government, industry, etc. Why would we trust our food supply to a country which has only stolen us blind at every turn through things like software pirating, movie and music copying, designer knock-offs, you name it?! Are we crazy?!

[akrk33nnn]

cgene1 - I think you hit the nail right on the head! "Farmers" like that also get the benefit of low-tax agricultural exemptions. FDR ran for governor of New York, then later for President, claiming he was a "farmer".

[tbweb]

This incident and other Chinese domestic problems is further proof China is putting the cart before the horse spending its new found wealth on a military buildup to invade Taiwan, and make no mistake about it, when China thinks its ready and can get away with it Taiwan will be invaded and converted from a successful democracy to a communist nation. China should get its domestic house in order first and worry about spending on the military later.

[erasmus6]

"....pet deaths might have been caused by melamine reacting with cyanuric acid, a similar chemical usaully used to TO KEEP SWIMMING POOLS CLEAN BUT WHICH IS PERMITTED BY THE FDA AS A FEED ADDITIVE IN CAREFULLY LIMITED AMOUNTS."

And we are worried about China?
So basically we need to be questioning even what our countries are putting in our pet food.
Actually we need to be questioning what is in all our food. We need to start DEMANDING that their are no chemicals and c-r-a-p in our food.

As far as China goes, why haven't they noticed their pets dying from it? Perhaps I can tell you why. It is either because they haven't been putting it in their food or when their animals die they don't give a ****. Why would they, they are going around and killing their animals anyway.

The problem with China is that after they PRETEND that they have dealt with this, everything will go back to the way it was. Maybe not with the melamine but it will be something else. We already know that there is rat poison it it, what is being done about that? All we are hearing about is the melamine.

Just remember that there could be ANYTHING in the food and the inspectors will not know that it is their unless they are specifically testing for that particular thing. And very little is actually inspected, PERIOD.

[cgene1]

We buy tainted food items from forign countries and pay American farmers not to grow these things, makes no sense. I guess thats why when elected the first thing a politition will do is buy a farm so he can get paid for not growing anything.

[erasmus6]

"....pet deaths might have been caused by melamine reacting with cyanuric acid, a similar chemical usaully used to TO KEEP SWIMMING POOLS CLEAN BUT WHICH IS PERMITTED BY THE FDA AS A FEED ADDITIVE IN CAREFULLY LIMITED AMOUNTS."

And we are worried about China?
So basically we need to be questioning even what our countries are putting in our pet food.
Actually we need to be questioning what is in all our food. We need to start DEMANDING that their are no chemicals and c-r-a-p in our food.

As far as China goes, why haven't they noticed their pets dying from it? Perhaps I can tell you why. It is either because they haven't been putting it in their food or when their animals die they don't give a ****. Why would they, they are going around and killing their animals anyway.

The problem with China is that after they PRETEND that they have dealt with this, everything will go back to the way it was. Maybe not with the melamine but it will be something else. We already know that there is rat poison it it, what is being done about that? All we are hearing about is the melamine.

Just remember that there could be ANYTHING in the food and the inspectors will not know that it is their unless they are specifically testing for that particular thing. And very little is actually inspected, PERIOD.

[bookwerm314]

Our inspection process should be PAID for by the IMPORTERS! If business wants to import food products, they should pay a bonded independent agency for 100% inspection the full cost. The US Taxpayer should not pay.
For companies in the US, they are already inspected, plus we have some standards.. the Chinese think nothing of adding contamination to food items on purpose or by accident as long as they get paid..

[bookwerm314]

Our inspection process should be PAID for by the IMPORTERS! If business wants to import food products, they should pay a bonded independent agency for 100% inspection the full cost. The US Taxpayer should not pay.
For companies in the US, they are already inspected, plus we have some standards.. the Chinese think nothing of adding contamination to food items on purpose or by accident as long as they get paid..