U.S. melamine probers find empty Chinese factories (Reuters)

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. melamine probers find empty Chinese factories

By Charles Abbott Thu May 10, 6:35 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. investigators found shuttered factories
when they arrived at the Chinese food processors blamed for putting the
chemical melamine into vegetable proteins shipped to America, officials
said on Thursday.

The proteins were used in feed for pets, hogs, poultry and fish. All the
suspect products have been traced to two makers in China, U.S. Food
and Drug Administration officials said during a news conference.

"We visited the two facilities and there is essentially nothing to be
found because they are closed down," said Walter Batts, head of FDA's
office of international investigations. An FDA team has been in China
since April 30.

"Nothing is available to be seen at the facilities. They were closed
down, machinery dismantled," said Batts.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070510/us_nm/food_fda_dc

---

The article continues with a general update of the melamine situation.
The FDA also confirms that a second U.S. company distributed the
counterfeit food products.

Also: Gluten factory had a toxic history - LA Times
Related DU thread: Owner Of Gluten Factory Razes Facility Days Before Scheduled Arrival Of FDA Team - LA Times

[CountAllVotes]

1. gee how shocked I am!

:sarcasm:

:kick: & Recommend!

[msongs]

2. poison america then hide the evidence - sounds like a bush plan nt

[proud patriot]

3. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

:grr:

[Hekate]

4. Surprise surprise. The Chinese government is NOT our friend,& it is a vastly different culture.

The US government dropped the ball when it allowed corporations free rein to deal with China, without regard to OSHA issues, human rights, or the most basic fact-checking on imports.

:argh:

Hekate

[Rex]

5. How do you destroy another nation without ever firing a shot?

Take control of their economy and then sell them poison for food. Why waste bombs when they will pay you to send contaminated food to their masses?

[StarryNite]

6. And yet we keep doing business with them.

And there is no way for the American consumer to know what we are buying and feeding our families.

[napi21]

7. Why the hell are we wtill buying food stufs from China????

It NOTonly pet food, it's human food too! I care very much about my pets and have been making my own dog food since I first heard about this BS, but there are many people who just don't care about animals. Do they care about THEIR food?

I think all food and food ingredient purchases from China should be suspended indefinately until proper inspections and assurances can be assured!

[StarryNite]

8. Absolutely, suspend all

food and feed products from China. For crying out loud, this is something we can produce right here anyway. It's time to start putting America first instead of corporations first.

[Jim Warren]

11. What I don't get

is how long has China had so much ag surplus that they can afford to export?
I mean, it was not long ago they had a huge problem just feeding themselves.

[Zookeeper]

9. A fun fact to know and tell....

I recently bought a large plastic bottle of juice that was the cheapest and a generic brand, if I remember correctly. One of my kids happened to slip the plastic label off and underneath it said, "Product of China."

It was significantly cheaper than the other brands, but I wouldn't have bought it if I had known where it came from, if for no other reason than a lot of energy was wasted shipping it from China to MN.

Who the heck knows what else we're buying that comes from China without us realizing it?

[StarryNite]

10. That bothers me too.

We have no idea where our food is coming from a good part of the time.