Although there is no evidence to indicate that either wheat gluten or rice protein has been used in the processing of human foods, the government is taking a precautionary, preventive measure to be certain.
The contamination of melamine in both imported wheat gluten and rice protein from China that was used to make pet foods ended up causing thousands of deaths and illnesses to pets nationwide.
Chief Medical Officer for the FDA's Center of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Dr. David Acheson, in a newly created position of FDA Assistant Commission of Food Protection questions, "Could this be in other concentrates that may be getting into other pet food or human food?"
"Right now, there's no indication that that is happening, but we know there are other types of protein concentrates that come into the United States, and we think in the interest of public health, that we should get out there and look for it."
"This is going to go on until we feel satisfied that we've got it covered," stated Acheson.
"We'll keep doing this until we're confident that we've got our arms around it," he added.
On Tuesday, families of those victimized by contaminated spinach and peanut butter urged lawmakers to be proactively stronger in overseeing the food supply of the nation, reports CNN.
Currently, according to government officials, there is a Missouri farm being investigated.
Sharp criticism, particularly in Congress, was made regarding the speed and compass of the actions by the FDA after the pet food contaminations were discovered, according to a Chicago Tribune report.
