When I wrote about the poisoning of pet food with melamine, a chemical that is frequently found in fertilizer, I expressed concern about the adulteration of both pet food and the human food chain. Melamine is rich in nitrogen, and therein lies the tale.

When reader Mike the Navigator wondered whether our most favored trading partners, the Chinese, a.k.a. “the landlord” might be sending us a message, I answered facetiously that more likely they were just following our examples in corrupt capitalism.

As it turns out…..

A nitrogen-rich chemical used to make plastic and sometimes as a fertilizer may have been deliberately added to an ingredient in pet food that has sickened and killed cats and dogs across the country, public and private officials say. A leading theory is that it was added to fake higher protein levels.

Melamine has been found in wheat gluten, rice protein concentrate and, in South Africa, corn gluten, all imported from China, and all meant for use in pet food, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed Thursday.
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ChemNutra, which imported the wheat gluten linked to last month's massive pet-food recall, says it is concerned its Chinese supplier spiked the product.

In a letter on ChemNutra's website, Chief Executive Steve Miller said, "We are concerned that we may have been the victim of deliberate and mercenary contamination for the purpose of making the wheat gluten we purchased appear to have a higher protein content than it did."
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But it does have a lot of nitrogen in it, says Ron Madl, director of Kansas State University's Bioprocessing and Industrial Value Added program. The most common way to test protein levels in the grain industry is to test for nitrogen, a major component of protein.

Adding melamine, with its high amount of nitrogen, to wheat gluten would give the illusion of a higher protein content, Madl said.

I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating: it’s bad enough when food adulteration affects Rover and Mittens. When it gets into the human food chain it’s past time to call for an examination of how we protect ourselves.

Unsurprisingly, under the Bu$h malAdministration the FDA food and food plant inspection program has been gutted. We seem to keep having this same tired discussion; relying on capitalists to self-police themselves is as effective as having a drunk behind the bar, serving drinks. The robber-baron free market lies of the Republican Party not only cheats people, it kills them. Corporate managers have no stake in their employers’ enterprise beyond the next quarter’s profits and their own bonuses.