Contaminated wheat gluten

[mocoloco]

Here in the US there is an ongoing problem with pet food contamination (with what is believed to be melamine). What I can find out so far is that the source of the contamination is alleged to be a Chinese firm that produces wheat gluten for use in pet food and also for human consumption. However, I can find no articles identifying the company, nor any discussions about whether wheat gluten sold for human consumption (seitan) has been contaminated. Ominously, I have seen some reports which say that the gluten in the pet food was "food grade," meaning fit for human consumption.

I eat a lot of seitan and am very concerned that it may be contaminated. I have found only one company (Field Roast) that acknowledged this fear as a serious problem. They make clear that they buy their seitan from a Canadian company that does not supply pet food products. Does anyone have any additional information about this? Any insight on this potential problem would be appreciated.

[mocoloco]

Apparently, the company in question is Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co., Ltd. They supply seitan, protein powder, rice protein, carrots, garlic, ginger and ginger products to countries around the world. The US Food and Drug Administration has temporarily banned import into the US of all Xuzhou products.

The FDA has said there is "no evidence" that melamine has contaminated food products intended for human consumption, but has provided no information that would lead the consumer to believe it was only wheat gluten intended for pet food that has been contaminated. That hardly inspires confidence. I have been finding it quite difficult to identify the source of wheat gluten in the various products my family consumes. Until more information is available, we are only eating organic products containing wheat gluten.