Small Melamine Amounts in Baby Formula Safe?

Public health groups, consumer advocates and members of Congress blasted the Food and Drug Administration on November 26, 2008 for failing to act after discovering trace amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula sold in the United States.

The FDA began testing infant formula in September and has so far analyzed 74 of the 87 products it has collected. None of the samples contained both melamine and a related compound, cyanuric acid. After reviewing the samples and animal studies, the agency decided that either melamine or cyanuric acid alone is safe formula at 1 part per million or less. Melamine can cause kidney and bladder stones and, in worst cases, kidney failure and death. If melamine and cyanuric acid combine, they can form round yellow crystals that can also damage kidneys and destroy renal function.

Melamine was found In Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron made by Nestle, and cyanuric acid was detected in Enfamil Lipil with Iron infant formula powder made by Mead Johnson. A spokesman for Nestle did not respond to repeated calls and e-mails for comment. Gail Wood, a spokeswoman for Mead Johnson, said the company does not think that cyanuric acid poses a health threat to infants. “Cyanuric acid is approved by the FDA to sanitize processing equipment,” she said. “The risks of not sanitizing equipment are far greater than ultra trace amounts of residual cyanuric acid found in formula.

Agency scientists have maintained they could not set a safe level of melamine exposure for babies because they do not understand the effects of long-term exposure on a baby’s developing kidneys. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that infant formula is a baby’s sole source of food for many months. Premature infants absorb an especially large dose of the chemical, compared with full-term babies.

The FDA spokeswoman said no illnesses have been linked to melamine consumption in the United States. Chinese manufacturers deliberately added the chemical to watered-down formula to make it appear to contain higher levels of protein. More than 50,000 Asian infants were hospitalized, and at least four died.

Critics said the FDA’s reassurance about products carry less weight after the recent controversy over bisphenol-A, a chemical found in plastic baby bottles, dinnerware and the linings of food cans. The FDA dismissed a growing body of scientific evidence that has linked BPA to health problems even as worried consumers stopped buying BPA-containing products. Instead, the FDA relied on two industry-funded studies that concluded the BPA did not pose a health risk. Last month, the agency’s science advisory board said the agency should no longer maintain that BPA is safe.

Your child’s safety is one of our law firm’s main concerns. If you or a loved one is injured due to consumption of a dangerous product, contact our experienced Michigan layers immediately.