September 26, 2008
South Korea finds melamine in fish feed made from milk from China
Melamine, an industrial chemical that can cause kidney damage in humans, was detected in fish feed in South Korea's market by local inspectors.
The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the discovery of a second case of melamine contamination was made during an inspection last week of 290 feed samples produced by 60 local companies, 68 of which was tested positive for melamine.
Of the 68 contaminated feed products found this time, only 7 were sold in the country, with the rest being exported, were used as samples to gauge market reaction and to conduct experiments.
Two out of the seven sold were from a factory in Jeongeup that was cited last week for selling tainted feed, while the rest were made by a company in Incheon that distributed to 20 fish farms in July and August.
Seoul started checking animal feed after a product made by a company that sold to 16 South Korean fish farms in March was found to contain traces of melamine. The feed was made from powdered milk supplied by both local and Chinese companies.
According to a government official, fish farms that have been supplied with the feed have been ordered not to sell their fish, while authorities have seized and destroyed remaining stockpiles.