FDA Sets Safe Levels for Melamine in Baby Formula

Officials recently said they couldn't do so

By the Associated Press

Posted Nov 29, 2008 9:09 AM CST

(AP) – Less than two months after federal food regulators said they couldn’t set a safety threshold for melamine in baby formula, they announced a standard that allows for higher levels than those found in US-made batches of the product. FDA officials yesterday set a threshold of one part per million of melamine in formula, provided a related chemical isn't present. They insisted the formulas are safe.

The setting of the standard, which matches those in China and Canada, comes days after the AP reported that FDA tests found traces of melamine in the infant formula of one major US manufacturer and cyanuric acid, a chemical relative, in the formula of a second major maker. The amounts found in US-made formula are far below the amounts that have been blamed for killing at least three babies and making thousands ill in China.

Melamine-tainted products, including baby formula, are pushed into a pond at a garbage dump in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Monday, Nov. 17, 2008. (AP Photo)

A researcher checks for melamine in milk samples collected from stores at a government food safety laboratory in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008. (AP Photo)

A chemist demonstrates how vials of liquefied pet food are tested for melamine at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, at the University of California, Davis, campus. (Rich Pedroncelli)

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J&J Hawked FDA-Banned Hip Replacement Overseas

Product deemed unsafe was still sold overseas, derivative sold in US

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Group of employees files lawsuit

Pot-Based Drug Poised for FDA OK

Sativex for cancer pain already in advanced clinical trials

Feds Hit Red Cross With $9.6M Fine

FDA sites badly trained staff, poor record-keeping

FDA Stops All Imports of Orange Juice

Feds will test for fungicide

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