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Geneviève Frick & Claude Chaubert
Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux, Research Station ALP, Swiss Confederation

2500 tons of imported products from China with the appearance of maize gluten and high crude protein (RP) value where proved to actually contain mostly cereal by-products and N-rich organic compounds such as urea.

Classical microscopy helped to discover the falsification: numerous starch grains, seed envelopes and wheat bran fragments (atypical particles for maize gluten) were observed. The samples also showed low methionine content despite high RP value.

Finally, large amounts of urea and in some cases low amounts of melamine or cyanuric acid were measured in the incriminated product. The feedstuffs official inspection authority in Switzerland blocked the import and restricted the use of these products.

Keywords:
Maize gluten, urea, melamine, microscopy