Animal feed makers deliberately added an industrial chemical to their products, ignoring a year-old government rule meant to protect China's food supply, a government official said.

Inspection teams have descended on feed makers nationwide in a "punishment" campaign to ferret out those found using excessive amounts of the chemical melamine, Agriculture Ministry official Wang Zhicai said in remarks posted on the ministry's Web site and carried by state media Saturday.

Among the quarter of a million feed-makers and animal breeding farms inspected, inspectors found more than 500 engaged in illegal or questionable practices, with police further investigating 27 companies, Wang said. He likened the behavior of some of the companies to organized crime, calling them "black nests of gangsters."

"Adding melamine to feed is a criminal act and must be firmly attacked," Wang said.

His remarks were the latest by a government that is trying to appear responsive to a widening food scandal. In the nearly two months since the government first acknowledged that melamine contaminated the milk supply, the chemical has been detected in eggs, candy and other products. Its presence in feed raises fears about the safety of meat and fish.

Commonly used in plastics and fertilizers, melamine is high in nitrogen, which registers as high protein levels in routine tests of food and feed. Though experts say at low levels it does not pose a risk to human health, higher concentrations harm the kidneys.

At least four children died from drinking tainted infant formula and milk powder and tens of thousands of others were sickened. The broad array of tainted products — and the government's delayed response — has damaged public confidence at home and raised further questions about the quality of Chinese products in crucial export markets.

A little more than a year ago, China vowed to minimize the use of melamine after it was found in pet food exports that killed dogs and cats in North America in 2007. Following that, Wang, the agricultural official, said China adopted "a rigorous standard" for melamine's use — 2 parts per million.

Since the milk contamination was exposed in September, inspectors have redoubled efforts to enforce that 2007 standard, Wang said.

"Producers violating the law will be severely punished: they could have their licenses revoked and be handed over to law enforcement organs to be held legally responsible," said Wang, who heads the Agriculture Ministry's animal husbandry and livestock office.

Already, he said, inspectors have safely disposed of 3,682 tons of feed that exceeded standards.

Executives in food processing industries have said the use of melamine was widespread in China, gaining ground in recent years as prices of real protein additives climbed.

中國政府官方透露，動物飼料生產商們有意忽視一年前政府頒布的法令，公然在飼料中添加工業化學藥劑，還美其名曰保護中國的食品供應。

國家農業部畜牧業和家畜負責官員王志材在其部門網站上發言說，技術檢查組已在全國范圍內對飼料生產商開展了一場突擊檢查,嚴格查處那些超標使用化學三氯氰胺的廠商,該發言周末被國家媒體轉載.

王志材說,在對全國數百萬家飼料生產商和牲畜養殖場抽查了四分之一后,發現500多家存在著可疑或違法行為,隨著警方對27家公司的進一步調查,他將此行為比作是有組織的犯罪,稱他們為”犯罪份子黑巢”.

“飼料中添加三氯氰胺是一種犯罪行為,必須嚴厲打擊.”王志材宣稱.

王志材的發言是政府部門開始著手對逐漸擴大的食品界丑聞進行整頓所作出的最新反應.自從政府公開承認奶類供應確實受到三氯氰胺污染后的兩個月內,雞蛋,糖果以及其他一些產品中陸續被檢驗出含有化學物質,飼料中含有化學物質引起了大眾對肉類和魚類食品安全的恐慌.

三氯氰胺富含大量氮元素,通常使用在塑料制品和肥料中,而在食品和飼料的常規檢測中卻被視為高蛋白含量.盡管專家表示低含量的三氯氰胺對人體健康無害,但濃度過高卻會引起腎結石.

 迄今已有四例兒童因飲用受污染的嬰兒配方奶粉,上萬的兒童因此患上相應的疾病.越來越多的污染產品,政府延遲的整治措施均嚴重打擊了國內大眾對食品安全的信心,而至關重要的出口市場也對中國產品質量安全提出了很大的質疑.

2007年出口的寵物糧食質量問題導致北美大量的貓狗死亡,中國對此宣誓將三氯氰胺的使用量降低到最低,緊接著,農業部門的王志材宣布中國對三氯氰胺的使用量將嚴格控制在每一百萬中含量為兩分.

 王志材透露說自9月份曝光的牛奶污染事件后,檢測人員再次對執行”2007年標準”的力度提出質疑.

“政府將嚴厲懲處無視法令的生產商,我們將吊銷他們的生產許可證,并將之移交給法律執行機構執行法律責任.”

目前檢測人員已經安全處理了超標的3682噸飼料.

食品加工業的執政人員透露說由于近幾年正宗蛋白質添加劑的價格不斷上漲,在中國使用三氯氰胺替代是個普遍現象,還在不斷擴大.