What is it with China and melamine? Is it like global warming and all those billion plus Chinese producing the stuff? Where does all this melamine come from?
China is a huge producer of melamine, along with urea fertilizers. Melamine is often produced in the same plants as urea and NH3.
Because melamine is so high in nitrogen, it is a cheap, easy way to boost the protein readings in foodstuffs. Since milk (and milk solids) as well as animal feeds are graded based (at least in part) on the amount of protein in them, you get a big bang for your buck by augmenting the feed with melamine.
Here’s an example of a legit and safe protein boost that is occasionally done in the US:
It used to be (years ago, before the greenies started banning everything) that the straw/stubble left in a field after rice was harvested in California was burned. Now it cannot be burned, so it has to be raked up into windrows and baled to get it off the field and out of the way of the next rice planting.
Well, straw isn’t exactly useful as animal feed - it is all fiber, has only a little carbs/sugars in it, and very little protein. Ah — but if you put the bales of rice straw into a closed container and you put in a bunch of anhydrous ammonia, the NH3 will bind with any water in the straw (which is typically 8% moisture) and boost the N level in the straw, thereby boosting the gain a cow will get off of eating the straw.
It also kills insects & mites, which is a nice side-effect.
So there you have it: the reason why China has this “melamine” thing going on is because a) they’re commies, and commies never cared a whit for how many people they kill, b) who want to game feed standards, so that c) they can get more money.