Melamine residues in pet food - Preliminary report

Eighty-four commercially available pet food samples including cat food (38 solid,17 semi-solid) and dog food (20 solid,9 semi-solid) were analyzed for melamine residues by competitive enzyme linked immunosorbant assay. among solid cat food,78.94% (n=30) were contaminated with 14.43±1.27 (range >4-68 mg/kg) of melamine,while 82.35% samples of semi solid cat food (n=14) were found positive for melamine residue with mean value 6.43± 1.96 (range >2- 13.14mg/kg). similarly,75% samples of solid dog food (n=15) were positive for melamine residues with mean value 8.50±1.73 mg/kg (range >4-49mg/kg). a total of 44.44% samples of semi solid dog food were positive for melamine with mean value 16.31±1.64 range of >2-34.25mg/kg. out of all positive samples,53% samples of pet food were contaminated beyond the codex alimentarius commission (i.e. 2.5mg/kg). analytical data showed existence of melamine residues in imported pet food. copyright © 2015 zoological society of pakistan.