Shouldn't this standard be ZERO???

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FDA sets melamine standard for baby formula

 

WASHINGTON – Two months ago, federal food regulators said they were unable to

set a safety threshold for the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula.

Now, however, they found a way to settle on a standard that allows for higher

levels than those found in U.S.-made batches of the product. (Well golly gee, if

they simply set the standards higher than what they found in the Chinese formula

everyone would be happy.

Except maybe for the sick children.)

AP – Chemist Filigenzi demonstrates how vials of liquefied pet food are

placed in trays for testing.

Food and Drug Administration officials on Friday set a threshold of 1 part per

million of melamine in formula, provided a related chemical is not present. They

insisted the formulas are safe.

(Every bit as safe as " trace amounts " of Thimerosal?)

The development comes days after The Associated Press reported that FDA tests

found traces of melamine in the infant formula of one major U.S. manufacturer

and cyanuric acid, a chemical relative, in the formula of a second major maker.

The contaminated samples, which both measured at levels below the new standard,

were analyzed several weeks ago.

The FDA had said in early October it was unable to set a safety contamination

level for melamine in infant formula. (HOW ABOUT ZERO?)

Dr. Sundlof, the FDA's director of food safety, said Friday the agency

was confident in the 1 part per million level for either of the chemicals alone,

even though there have been no new scientific studies since October that would

give regulators more safety data. He had no ready explanation for why the level

was not set earlier.

The standard is the same as the one public health officials have set in Canada

and China, but is 20 times higher than the most stringent level in Taiwan.

The problem of melamine in infant formula first surfaced in China in September.

Sundlof said the lack of dual contamination was key because studies so far show

dangerous health effects only when both chemicals are present. He emphasized

that neither of the two tainted samples had both contaminants.

The agency still will not set a safety level for melamine if cyanuric acid is

also present, he said. (Oh S...)

Both the new safety level and the amount of the chemical found in U.S.-made

infant formula are far below the amounts of melamine added to infant formula in

China that have been blamed for killing at least three babies and making

thousands ill.

" The levels were so low ... that they do not cause a health risk to infants, "

Sundlof said. " Parents using infant formula should continue using

U.S.-manufactured infant formula. Switching away from one of these infant

formulas to alternate diets or homemade formulas could result in infants not

receiving the complete nutrition required for proper growth and development. "

A scientist for a national consumer group said it was irresponsible of FDA to

assure the public that infant formula is safe based on tests of only 74 samples,

especially since cyanuric acid is a byproduct of melamine, making it likely that

they will be found together.

" This is a slippery slope of rationalization by FDA, " said Urvashi Rangan, a

senior scientist with the Consumers Union in New York. " FDA needs to get a

handle on how widespread the problem is and, most important, if both these

chemicals are occurring in any products. They just haven't tested enough to know

that yet. "

Earlier this week, members of Congress and the Illinois attorney general

demanded a national recall, something FDA said made no sense because it had no

evidence suggesting that the formula would be dangerous for babies at the levels

of contamination found.

After saying it made an error in its data, the FDA on Wednesday produced these

results: Mead 's Infant Formula Powder, Enfamil LIPIL with Iron found

melamine at levels of 0.137 and 0.14 parts per million. Three tests of Nestle's

Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron detected an average of 0.247 parts

per million of cyanuric acid.

Separately, a third major formula maker — Abbott Laboratories, whose brands

include Similac — told AP that in-house tests had detected trace levels of

melamine in its infant formula. Those levels were below what FDA found in the

other formulas, an Abbott spokesman said, and below any national safety

guidelines.

Abbott Laboratories, Nestle and Mead make more than 90 percent of all

infant formula produced in the United States

The agency had left the impression of a zero tolerance on Oct. 3 when it stated:

" FDA is currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related

compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns. "

The FDA and other experts said they believe the melamine contamination in

U.S.-made formula had occurred during the manufacturing process, rather than

intentionally. The U.S. government quietly began testing domestically produced

infant formula in September, soon after problems with melamine-spiked formula

surfaced in China.

Melamine can legally be used in some food packaging, and can rub off into food

from there. It's also part of a cleaning solution used on some food processing

equipment.

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" They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety,

deserve neither liberty or safety. " - lin