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MELAMINE FOUND IN BABY FORMULA

How much of a toxic, even deadly chemical can be in your baby's formula and still have it be okay? If you said "none," than you and I are on the same page. Unfortunately, it seems not everyone agrees. "The levels that we are detecting are extremely low," said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. He went on to say that the evidence of melamine that they've found "so far are in the trace range, and from a public health or infant health perspective, we consider those to be perfectly fine."


That was the comment after it was revealed that trace amounts of melamine -- the same chemical that was found in baby formula in China -- were found in infant formula from the three largest U.S. producers. Together, Abbott Laboratories, Nestle, and Mead Johnson make over 90% of all formula produced domestically.

In October, the FDA said that the organization "is currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns." That's a wee bit different from the current statements that seem to indicate the trace amounts they've found are harmless.

Personally, I suspect that what they've found really isn't a problem, but I would hope that it serves as a wake-up call for the producers to find better ways to make sure their products are not contaminated.

Source : by Roger Sinasohn Nov 26th 2008 3:00PM