Hoang Kim Giao, head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Animal Husbandry Bureau, said Vietnam typically doesn’t allow melamine in feed but feed with that little amount can be considered essentially “melamine-free.”
Studies conducted nationwide and abroad have shown that animals eating feed containing such an amount of melamine or less, causes no harm to people who consume their meat or products, Thanh Nien cited the bureau deputy head Nguyen Xuan Duong as saying.
“When an animal digests up to 2.5 parts per million (ppm) of melamine in one kilogram of feed, no trace of the chemical remains in its meat, eggs or milk,” Duong said.
According to Duong, developed countries in Europe and the US have confirmed that such a ratio is safe for consumption “so we too should follow those guidelines.”
The official decision was issued last Friday “to prevent stagnation in farming and production,” said Duong, noting that more than 7.5 million farming households across the country are at risk due to the recent melamine scare.
A joint announcement made earlier by the Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization had said that all melamine contaminated products should be recalled from the market.
Several countries have absolutely banned melamine from food products, WHO officials in Vietnam said.
But Duong said to demand zero-melamine products “would be unfair to producers and rupture their businesses” if small inconsequential amounts happened to leak from the production environment or packaging process.
The melamine scandal, which originated in China, saw the chemical, mainly used to make plastics, being illegally doctored in food products to raise the protein content and cut back on raw materials.
Under the ministry’s latest decision, importing, producing, trading and using animal feed that contains a melamine proportion higher than 2.5 milligrams per kilogram are prohibited.
Duong also said his bureau is carrying out tests on different melamine amounts in feed to gauge the appropriate level of safety for people and animals, adding that results for the tests will be forthcoming in several months.
The 2.5 ppm rate decision was issued in the wake of melamine being detected in October in fish meal imports from China to make animal feed.
Deliveries of 240 tons of Chinese fish meal in June and July licensed by Chinese authorities contained a melamine concentration ranging from 0.59-2.24 percent, according to the HCMC Bureau of Quality Management and Fishery Resources Protection.
Following the melamine scare for milk products in Vietnam in late September, the Ministry of Health on October 7 reassured consumers that all tainted products have been removed from the market.
However, the ministry decided not to publicly announce the permissible level of melamine content and simply encouraged consumers to buy products that have passed quality tests.
Source: TN, Agencies |
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