In the case of last year’s melamine episode, manufacturers intentionally adulterated wheat gluten with melamine, an industrial chemical used in plastic resins, fabrics, glues and fertilizers. Poor quality wheat gluten was deliberately spiked with melamine to give higher analytical readings for nitrogen and thus falsely elevate the reported protein content. One solution to the melamine problem is to replace the current non-specific Kjeldahl nitrogen assay with a more specific analytical methodology that would more accurately measure protein content and not be “fooled” by adulterants like melamine. Fortunately for human health, the adulterated wheat gluten only ended up in cat and dog foods, where it regrettably caused the deaths of companion animals. However, there is no reason to assume that similar adulteration could not happen in foods intended for human consumption.