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And dont forget to add the cyanuric acid,


Tainted pet food: Lab says melamine not only culprit
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PET FOOD RECALL

Lab results: Melamine not only culprit, research says | Cats appear more vulnerable



China connection : FDA limits Chinese food additive imports | Asian giant grapples with food-safety probe | China admits tainted food link



Probe continues: FDA raids wheat gluten importer | Melamine may not be accident | P&G vows more control of Menu Foods



Science: Pet deaths not easy to solve | Timeline



Recall widens: Cross-contamination prompts new recalls | Premium dry foods recalled | Canadian pet food added to list | Dog biscuits become latest product



Solutions: Owners go organic | No easy answer on feeding Fido | Poison vs. pests | Raw foods are popular, but ...



Backlash: Pet food maker Menu Foods to pay vet bills | Audio: Cat owner sues



Toll: Scores more may have died





By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
Melamine combined with a related chemical — rather than melamine alone — likely caused the kidney damage in pets that ate tainted food, one lab investigating the case has found.
The finding by a laboratory in Ontario, Canada, appears to substantiate many scientists' theory that the melamine found in wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate used in recalled pet food did not fully explain the foods' apparent toxic effects on some animals that ate it.


STORY: Poisoned pet food seems to hit cats harder

The other chemical, cyanuric acid, can be produced during the making of melamine.

Used in pool cleaning, it has also been found in samples of recalled pet food.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: James Kapin
A team at the University of Guelph showed crystals formed in the kidneys of pets that ate food with the tainted ingredients are close to 50% melamine and 50% cyanuric acid.

"We took some ordinary cat urine and added three drops of melamine and three drops of cyanuric acid, and we got the identical crystals that we see in the kidneys" of the affected cats, said team leader Brent Hoff, a clinical toxicologist and pathologist at the university's Animal Health Laboratory.

Previous research had found melamine alone to be relatively non-toxic. It is used to make plastic.

The formation of these crystals in the kidneys appears to be the primary cause of renal failure in the affected animals, said Wilson Rumbeiha, a toxicologist at Michigan State University who is reviewing pathology reports on animal deaths related to melamine.

The FDA says melamine was added to two food ingredients, wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate, because it is high in nitrogen and makes the grain product look as if it is higher in protein — and therefore worth more — than it actually is. The ingredients were imported from China.

Pure melamine makes clear, rectangular or needle-like crystals. The melamine-cyanuric acid mix forms crystals that are round and yellow to dark brown, said Hoff.

Melamine is composed of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen. In China, it is often made from coal, said James Kapin, a member of the American Chemical Society's chemical health and safety committee.

The coal is turned to a gas, and nitrogen-rich compounds are extracted from it. After more steps, the end result is melamine.

Melamine and cyanuric acid are chemically very closely related, said Kapin. So cyanuric acid could be created at several points in the processing of melamine.

As melamine prices have risen, melamine scrap may been substituted for pure melamine.

The Chinese company that sold the tainted wheat gluten had advertised for melamine scrap on websites before the pet-food recall.