US food processors are continuing to boycott Chinese exports over fears regarding the safety of products coming from the country.

Following recent scares over food contaminated with the banned substance melamine, a number of processors including Nutracea, Mission Foods and Tyson Foods have announced that their ingredients are not, or will no longer be, sourced from China.

Such a reaction could further hinder the potential of Chinese food exports, as global companies wish to move find new ingredients sources free from the growing press and consumer backlash.

The backlash began earlier this year with the discovery that Melamine used in wheat proteins sourced from China had made its way into some pet foods.

Hundreds of dogs and cats either died or suffered health problems as a result. The scare increased in the US when it was found to have entered the human food chain after pet food scrap was used as a feed supplement at a number of hog and chicken farms.

Melamine is an industrial chemical found in plastics. The US found that the chemical had been fraudulently added to wheat gluten and rice protein from China. The country has now banned its exporters from using the chemical as an additive to boost protein levels in feeds.

Following the outbreak, the United States Department of Agriculture estimates it has detained 46 Chinese shipments of vegetable proteins.  With no testing certification yet received to confirm melamine is present, all restricted shipments continue to remain in the USDA detention.

Though the USDA accepted earlier this month that humans faced a low health risk from consuming meat that contained melamine and melamine-related compounds, the reputation of China's food and feed products continue to be undermined by the incident.

According to a recent report by the Washington Post, the USDA last month seized over 1,000 shipments of tainted Chinese dietary supplements, toxic cosmetics and counterfeit medicines.

The heightened restrictions have also seen fruits, bean curds, teas and even candy being seized upon entry to the US.

Regulators on the other side of the Atlantic are also keeping a stricter eye to prevent similar food safety problems from occurring.

As a result, china's government has started to review their food safety practices to prevent further health scares.

Hong Kong last week announced a review of its food safety protocols like tightening regulations on fish, vegetable and fruit products.

The new local safety bill will impose controls on pesticide residues, along with requiring health certification on any mainland China products that enter Hong Kong.

Authorities in Shanghai have also enacted similar measures with the recent formation of a rapid response food testing system, designed to step up the tracking and prevention of harmful food and beverage products.