You Get What You Pay For (Or "Caveat Emptor For Dummies")

"It could have been intentional, not accidental," Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said in an interview after meeting privately in his office with federal health officials. "Economic fraud is a theory" the investigators are pursuing, Durbin said. The Food and Drug Administration found melamine, a plastic component whose use is not approved in food, in pets that died. Investigators traced the melamine to wheat gluten, shipped from China, that is used to thicken pet food. According to Durbin, investigators are examining whether Chinese manufacturers added nitrogen-rich melamine to wheat gluten in order to raise its nitrogen level. Nitrogen levels are measured to calculate the protein content, which determines the value of a shipment. The FDA is sampling all imports of wheat gluten from China and the Netherlands, which also received shipments from China. The agency says it has found no evidence that the wheat gluten entered the human food supply. A bag with the word "melamine" stenciled on the side was found Sunday in a shipment of rice protein concentrate, a second pet food ingredient that has been linked to the pet food scare. http://tinyurl.com/2ltvru [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on April 20, 2007]

Note: http://tinyurl.com/2ltvru