A U.S. company, ChemNutra Inc., and two Chinese businesses were charged yesterday by a federal grand jury with manufacturing and importing tainted ingredients used in pet food that may have killed thousands of cats and dogs last year.

Top executives from the companies were also indicted. The United States accused them of importing 800 metric tons of wheat gluten poisoned with melamine, a toxic chemical. The shipments were mislabeled to avoid inspection in China, prosecutors said.

“In today’s global economy, crimes that occur halfway around the world can seriously impact our lives,” U.S. Attorney John Wood of Kansas City, Mo., said in a statement. “Millions of pet owners remember the anxiety of last year’s pet-food recall.”

Last March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was alerted to the deaths of 14 cats and dogs that appeared to suffer from kidney failure after eating. Ultimately, manufacturers recalled more than 150 brands of dog and cat food.

Consumer reports received by the FDA suggested that about 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs died after eating contaminated pet food, the Justice Department said.

Wheat gluten is a natural protein derived from wheat and is used as a binding agent in some types of pet food. The government said that mixing melamine with wheat gluten made it appear to have a higher protein level.

Melamine has commercial uses, including in fertilizers, plastics, cleaning products, glues and inks, and it is not approved for use as food for humans or animals in the United States, prosecutors said.

Las Vegas-based ChemNutra and its owners, Sally Miller and Stephen Miller, were charged with 26 misdemeanor counts alleging they delivered adulterated food and introduced it into interstate commerce. The executives and the company were also charged with one felony count of participating in a wire-fraud conspiracy to defraud companies that purchased the contaminated gluten.

Steve Stern, a spokesman for ChemNutra, had no immediate comment.

In a separate indictment, Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. and Suzhou Textiles, Silk, Light Industrial Products, Arts and Crafts I/E Co. were charged with 26 felony counts. Mao Linzhun and Zhen Hao Chen, executives with the companies, also face 26 felony charges.

The indictments allege that Suzhou Textiles, an export broker, mislabeled 800 metric tons of wheat gluten tainted with the toxic chemical melamine to avoid inspection in China. Xuzhou then did not properly declare the contaminated product it shipped to the United States as a material to be used in food, the indictment says.

It also says the shipment was falsely declared to the Chinese government in a way that would avoid a mandatory inspection of the company’s plants.

According to the indictment, ChemNutra picked up the melamine-tainted product at a port of entry in Kansas City, then sold it to makers of various brands of pet foods. The indictment alleges that the melamine was added to make the gluten meet the required standard for protein content specified in the contract between Suzhou and ChemNutra.

The companies and owners were charged in Kansas City because the products were shipped there, according to the Justice Department.

With Associated Press reports