I have only watched a few minutes of the congressional testimony, but I did see the CEO of ChemNutra testify that three quarters of the wheat gluten used in the US was imported. I thought we were a major exporter of wheat.

   The New York Times has an article from Zhangqiu, China, Filler in Animal Feed Is Open Secret in China

   Last Friday here in Zhangqiu, a fast-growing industrial city southeast of Beijing, two animal feed producers explained in great detail how they purchase low-grade wheat, corn, soybean or other proteins and then mix in small portions of nitrogen-rich melamine scrap, whose chemical properties help the feed register an inflated protein level.

   The manager, who works at a small animal feed operation here that consists of a handful of storage and mixing areas, said he has mixed melamine scrap into animal feed for years.

   “It’s true you can make a lot more profit by putting melamine in,” said another animal feed seller here in Zhangqiu. “Melamine will cost you about $1.20 for each protein count per ton whereas real protein costs you about $6, so you can see the difference.”

      Paul