Taiwan finds melamine in aquafeed

Taiwan's Council of Agriculture is to investigate possible melamine contamination in the fish farming industry, after melamine turned up during a routine inspection of aquafeed. Melamine was included in tests after the chemical was found in squid viscera meal from South Korea intended as an aquafeed ingredient last week.

According to the Taipei Times, all the fish farms that have used the contaminated food would be identified in the next few days and their fish tested for melamine residue. The contaminated fish food was made by a Pingtung County-based manufacturer for feeding groupers, milkfish and Japanese perch.

The newspaper quotes officials as saying the contaminated aquafeed was processed from a batch of squid meal that had been imported from South Korea last month. Of the 36,000 kg of squid meal imported by the Taiwanese manufacturer, 30,750 kg were used to produce a total of 200,000 kg of fish food and more than 170,000 kg of the fishmeal had been sold to local fish farms, the newspaper said.