Factory boss held over contaminated poultry feed

The owner of a poultry feed company in Shenyang, Liaoning province, has been arrested after admitting he used melamine in the production process, which led to the contamination of eggs sold by the Hanovo Group, police said at a press conference on Tuesday.

A spokesman for Shenyang police said Gao Xingtao, head of the Mingxing feed factory, had been arrested, but did not specify the exact date, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

Gao admitted to the purchase in July of 45 tons of protein products containing melamine that was added to the feed instead of the usual corn ethanol, which was in short supply, the report said.