Well, well, WELL.
After some public outcry over trace amounts of melamine found in infant formula here in the US, the Food and Drug Administration has finally decided that they can, in fact, set a safety standard for melamine. Previous to the agency’s releasing tests it had done which revealed the presence of the chemical in baby formula, they had said it was impossible to set a safety standard, indicating that any level of melamine was of concern.
The new level is 1 part per million for both melamine and its chemical relative cyanuric acid.
According to the Associated Press, which broke the story, “Dr. Stephen 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.”
According to Sundlof, it’s the lack of both chemicals being present that is key to safety, because studies show danger from melamine only when both chemicals are present.
It should be noted that the melamine found in the US formula is far below the level that killed three babies in China and sickened thousands of others.
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