Melamine has been involved in several food recalls after children and pets were found to have suffered severe kidney damage from melamine-adulterated food poisoning.

In 2007, Menu Foods and other pet food manufacturers initiated a pet food recall after discovering that their products were contaminated and caused serious illness or death in some animals that ate them. In March 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported finding white granular melamine in pet food, white granular wheat gluten samples imported from a single source in China, xuzhou Anying Biotechnology Co., and crystalline forms in kidneys and kidneys. Urine of affected animals. More imports of plant proteins from China were later involved.

In April 2007, the New York Times reported that it was an 'open secret' in many parts of mainland China that 'melamine waste' was being added to fish and livestock feed to pretend it was high in protein, and that at least one factory that processed coal into melamine was producing waste. Four days later, the New York Times reported that at least some chemical manufacturers continued to report using melamine in animal feed and products for human consumption, despite a widely reported ban on the use of melamine in plant protein in mainland China. Li Xiuping, manager of Huaxing Chemical In Xinxiang, Henan Province, said, "Our chemical products are mainly used as additives, not animal feed. Melamine is mainly used in the chemical industry, but it can also be used to make pastries." According to the New York Times, Shandong Mingshui Chemical Group, which uses coal as a raw material to produce melamine, produces and sells urea and melamine but does not list melamine resin as a product.

Another recall in 2007 involved melamine, which was deliberately added as an adhesive to us-produced fish and livestock feed. It can be traced to suppliers in Ohio and Colorado.

The presence of melamine has been determined by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in urine samples from children who ate adulterated dairy products.

It has been reported that melamine molecules adsorbed on the surface of gold or silver tend to be arranged in a honeycomb or densely packed structure. This self-assembly occurs due to intermolecular hydrogen bond interactions. This ordering is further studied using classical Monte Carlo and DFT methods.