China acts on food safety after pet poisonings

BEIJING/HONG KONG, May 9 (Reuters) China will launch a food industry clean up after exports of a contaminated ingredient in pet food drew global attention to its insufficient controls.

It will prioritise inspecting fertilizer and pesticide use in vegetable planting as well as animal medicines and additives in livestock feed, according to a notice from the State Council, China's cabinet.

China's rush into capitalism has created a rash of unregulated companies, operating on thin margins, whose temptation to cut corners has sometimes led to deaths from dangerous food additives.

That's increasingly raising concern in countries that import food, or food ingredients, from China.

China acknowledged yesterday that two Chinese companies illegally exported wheat gluten and rice protein that contained melamine scrap, a chemical product that artificially inflates protein levels.

It was mixed into pet food along with another compound, causing a spate of animal deaths in the United States.

''I think the primary thing that must be recognised is that this thing represents a gap in the regulatory system, a worldwide gap,'' said a US official based in China.

''Although there's probably a lot of culpability on the part of the Chinese -- misrepresenting products is a common procedure in China to skirt around their regulatory process -- it doesn't necessarily indict their regulatory process. It more or less indicts the ability to enforce the rules.'' A team from the US Food and Agriculture department has arrived in China to help investigate how the melamine got into the feed. It is touring Shandong province, a centre for China's poultry and feed industry, as well as Jiangsu province, home to many small chemical producers.

Washington has considered a ban on imports of wheat gluten and rice protein from China, officials have said.

China will test food including cooking oil, flour and beverages as well as baby food. Unqualified producers will have their licences revoked, the State Council said in its announcement, dated April 27 but posted on the central government's Web site (www.gov.cn) today.

Separately, the Ministry of Health said today it would step up hygienic inspections of plants making food from beans.

Reuters AM DB1136