WASHINGTON, Nov 26, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- The Food and Drug Administration
said U.S.-made baby formula was safe despite finding "trace levels" of the toxic
chemical melamine in a sample.
The Food and Drug Administration said it also found trace levels of the
industrial chemical in other products such as nutritional and medical
supplements produced by U.S. infant formula manufacturers, The Wall Street
Journal reported Wednesday.
The levels of melamine "are extremely low," said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director
of the agency's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "It didn't cause
any concern at all, not from a health standpoint."
The agency tested products from the five FDA-approved makers of milk-based
infant formulas -- Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Nestle SA's
Nestle USA unit, PBM Products LLC and Solus Products LLC. Sundlof told the
Journal the traces stemmed from the products coming in contact with melamine
during processing.
The FDA approved melamine as a "food contact substance" about 40 years ago, the
Journal said.
Melamine traces in the U.S. products were detected by a testing program the FDA
began after Chinese-made infant formula tainted with much higher levels of
melamine sickened tens of thousands of babies in China and led to at least four
deaths.
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Copyright 2008 by United Press International