USDA, FDA quarantine 6,000 hogs fed contaminated rice protein from China

USDA, FDA quarantine 6,000 hogs fed contaminated rice protein from China The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Food and Drug Administration have ordered a hold on about 6,000 hogs fed contaminated feed ingredients from China.
   FDA determined that a shipment of rice protein imported from China was contaminated with melamine and melamine-related compounds. The product was imported into the United States the week of April 2 by Wilbur-Ellis, an importer and distributor of agricultural products. The rice protein was used in the production of pet food and a byproduct was used to produce animal feed.
   USDA is offering to compensate producers who destroy the hogs fed the adulterated product. The department is also offering technical assistance from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to ensure the hogs are euthanized and disposed of according to federal and state laws.
   Eight pork producers in California, Kansas, North Carolina, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah are known to have purchased the feed. These combined operations involve about 6,000 hogs.
   “All of the animals are currently being held under state quarantines,” the USDA and FDA said in a joint statement Thursday.
   The USDA and FDA are also in contact with a feed mill in Missouri that might have received adulterated feed.