It’s important to keep in mind that the melamine itself is not the cause of the illnesses and deaths. The melamine has been there for years. What’s new is a second contaminant, believed to be cyanuric acid, that reacts with melamine to form the toxic substance. There seems to be a huge obsession now with tracking down the sources of melamine, and screening products for melamine content, when it’s the other substance that set off the rash of illnesses and deaths. But I haven’t heard a peep about where the cyanuric acid came from, and I have to think it could react with other things too (like the melamine in many food containers, and other completely different substances). Cyanuric acid is used for pool cleaning, and I suspect the answer is that it recently started to be used in equipment cleaning at food processing plants in Asia, probably in an honest attempt to improve sanitation. I’m puzzled about the lack of focus on this.
That is the scary part and signifies the importance of the FDA’s latest action.
Pet are the “canary in the coal mine”. What happens to them, will soon happen to us.
The US food supply is contaminated and we are still stumbling along attempting to determine the true scope and cause.
OK-I’m throwing out my frozen tilapia from China “with carbon monxide-to retain natural color” ewww
It’s interesting to note the tremedous rise of autism in the last 15 years and another writer’s note that it’s not necessarily malamine but the addition of it to mixtures in food that causes it to form a toxic substance.
Cordio
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/pet_food_recall36.html
cyanuric acid, amilorine, and amiloride — all byproducts of melamine.
Looks like the cyanuric acid comes from the melamine itself, when it reacts either in the food manufacutring process, or else in the body.