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The Food and Drug Administration has found trace amounts of the industrial poison melamine in baby formula and nutritional supplements sold in the U.S. The chemical is the same one that sickened at least 50,000 babies in China this year who drank contaminated formula. 

“The levels that we are detecting are extremely low,” Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, told the Associated Press, adding that parents should not stop giving their tots formula (though they may want to check with their pediatricians). “They should not be changing the diet. If they’ve been feeding a particular product, they should continue to feed that product. That’s in the best interest of the baby.”

The test results were disclosed last night by the AP after it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The FDA found tiny amounts of melamine in Mead Johnson's Infant Formula Powder, Enfamil LIPIL with Iron, according to the news service. FDA tests also turned up melamine in two nutritional supplements for kids, Nestle's Peptamen Junior and Nutren Junior-Fiber. Cyanuric acid, a byproduct of melamine, was found in another Nestle product, Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron, the AP says. The FDA says that the toxicity of cyanuric acid is being studied, but it's thought to be as powerful as melamine, according to the news wire.

Nestle spokesman David Mortazavi denied that cyanuric acid was found in any Nestle products. The melamine in the company's nutritional supplements are "tiny, trace amounts that are well below the recommended Food and Drug Administration limits, and are recognized as not harmful," Mortazavi said in a statement. He added that all of Nestle's Good Start infant formulas are manufactured in the U.S. "and they are not outsourced."

The FDA didn’t find melamine in Abbott's Similac, but the company's own testing did detect the chemical in one of its products, although a spokesperson refused to disclose which one, according to the AP.

The advocacy group Consumer's Union questioned whether the information would have come out had the AP not filed the FOIA. The FDA's advice not to change infant feeding practices "is of small comfort to parents and caregivers," the group said in a statement, adding that the agency's stance "is especially troubling" since it said on September 12 “not to feed infant formula manufactured in China to infants.”

Melamine is a compound used to manufacture plastics, but it can cause stones in the kidneys or bladder, and in severe cases, kidney failure. Melamine was used in China to artificially bulk up the purported protein content of formula, which resulted in the deaths of at least three of the thousands of babies sickened. China also was found to be using melamine for the same purpose in pet food, which resulted in the deaths of a reported 8,500 dogs and cats in the U.S. last year.

The amounts detected in U.S. formula and supplement samples were all in a "trace range" — far less than the 2,500 parts per million found in the Chinese milk products. The concentrations the FDA found were 10,000 times smaller, the AP says. "From a public health or infant health perspective, we consider those to be perfectly fine,” Sundlof told the AP.

In October, the agency said that it was "currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns."

Spokespersons for the FDA and infant-formula manufacturers other than Nestle did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment. A list of products previously recalled because of possible melamine contamination can be found here.

Image by iStockphoto/Isabelle Limbach

13 Comments

1. 1. dennismueller60 05:14 PM 11/26/08

   I looked at a research article that used 0.25 parts per million as the lowest concentration in its test of the measurement, as well as 12 blank samples containing no melamine. The article reported good (better than 25%) accuracy for a range of concentrations and no melamine in the blanks, despite such good reproduction of the samples, the article claims that 0.25ppm is the limit of making a quantifiable measurement (the article is from Oct. 2008, so the method is fairly new. The question is two-fold: One, is the test really reliable at very low concentrations? Two, are there any health impacts of such a low concentration?

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2. 2. rsjlmules 05:29 PM 11/26/08

   What is the TLV for health impacts for children?

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3. 3. rsjlmules 05:32 PM 11/26/08

   What is the lower limit of the analysis method used to test these baby formulas?

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4. 4. RHill 08:43 AM 11/27/08

   Sounds like a page out of the late Michael Crichton's novel "State of Fear" ... we've found poison in your babies food, but don't worry or stop feeding it to them. I can find no point in such an announcement other than to add to the public's distrust of the scientific community.

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5. 5. lizzycritternurse 09:57 AM 11/27/08

   I really don't care how little melamine is in my baby's formula. The fact that it is there at all is enough for me to be concerned. I want product names and lot numbers. I also want the FDA and food manufacturers to list what countries the ingredients in foods come from. List countries of origin just like they do with ingredients, so I can avoid putting anything from China on my table. I work in veterinary medicine, and the under-reporting of melamine contamination in pet foods was (still is) infuriating to me. I watched a friend's cat DIE from acute kidney failure after exposure to a single can of contaminated treats. So don't tell me a little is OK, I don't buy it. I don't care how small of a risk the powers that be think this is, it's a risk I am not willing to take with my son.

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6. 6. KComments 10:47 AM 11/27/08

   The comment "manufactured in US" as if it meant something is troubling. New Zealand milk products are imported from elsewhere, comingled with those from China and brought to join in products under American Dairy Association. The ingredient lines proven affected come into US as ingredient, not finished product. So what does combined into its final form here have to do with anything?

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7. 7. RHill 10:51 AM 11/27/08

   The article points out a real and present danger in products from trusted sources (Nestle, Similac), mentions the Chinese (who seem to be targeting our children and pets), plants [more] seeds of doubt about the FDA and makes the media (Associated Press) the hero of the whole affair by forcing disclosure. We all want and need to know information on potential hazards and how to handle them. This particular article points out a danger ... and then says don't worry about it.

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8. 8. mninventor 09:58 PM 11/28/08

   .

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9. 9. almxx 02:57 AM 11/29/08

   Capitalism knows no patriotism. Since our only value to business is as an employee or a customer, why should they hurt their profits by disclosure? Our wonderful govt. agencies are right there protecting big biz.

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10. 10. Ralf123 12:21 AM 12/1/08

    Jeez.
    You can find anything in anything if you look closely enough. Want to look for rat poison in baby food? I'm sure you can find it if you're able to test for pico- or femtograms.
    Without numbers (and, no, "10,000 times smaller" isn't enough) and some information on acceptable doses this is pure scaremongering. Who the heck writes such nonsense?

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11. 11. purr09 07:17 AM 1/12/09

    Absolutely Disgusting!! The fact that ANY AMOUNT of Melamine, Cyanaric Acid, or Any kind of Contaminant in Baby Formula is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!! Now it's not only Chinese manufacturered formula, but American made formula is contaminated too!
    Food products should have the listed on the outside label the country of origin for the ingredients!! What good does it do it the label says, "made in USA" when in fact the INGREDIENTS either all or part come from China!!

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12. 12. purr09 07:31 AM 1/12/09

    ANY AMOUNT OF CONTAMINANTS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!
    
    The FDA should require food manufacturers to include the on product labels the Origin of ALL Ingredients! Now... the same contaminants are showing up in baby formula formulated in the US. That means these American companies are getting their ingredients from China!!

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13. 13. purr09 07:34 AM 1/12/09

    Maybe we should Buy Organic Formula. But I would contact the company first and ask where do all of their ingredients come from.

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