Technology Developed to Detect Melamine

Scientists in the US have developed a technology that can detect trace melamine content in milk.

The method can pick up small traces of the chemical in liquid and powdered milk in about 25 seconds, researchers at Purdue University, Indiana said.

The technology is essentially a version of a mass spectrometer, a tool that can be used to separate and identify molecules in compounds.

The tool has been specially developed to detect melamine, the chemical that killed at least six and sickened 300,000 Chinese children in 2008.

The chemical was also found in contaminated pet food that killed thousands of dogs and cats in the US in 2007.

Melamine, used to make plastics, has been found in milk powder, wheat gluten and other Chinese-made ingredients used in products ranging from pet food to sweets.