The FDA has issued the results of its interim safety and risk assessment of melamine and melamine-related compounds in food, including infant formula. The purpose of the FDA interim safety/risk assessment, which was conducted by scientists in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, was to identify the level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in food which would not raise public health concerns.

For infant formula, the safety/risk assessment concludes that at this time FDA is unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns. Melamine in baby formula has sickened more than 54,000 infants in China. The government there ordered the recall of more than 10,000 tons of formula. Last week, 12 more Chinese dairy companies were named as violators after tests found 31 batches of milk powder contaminated with melamine.Chinese officials believe that the contamination was intentional and  occurred at milk collecting stations, rather than on dairy farms. MassTortDefense has posted on this before.

In food products other than infant formula, the safety/risk assessment concludes that levels of melamine and melamine-related compounds below 2.5 ppm do not raise public health concerns. This conclusion assumes a worst case exposure scenario in which 50% of the diet is contaminated at this level, and applies a 10-fold safety factor to the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) to account for uncertainties.

According to the CDC, melamine is a synthetic chemical with a variety of industrial uses including the production of resins and foams, cleaning products, fertilizers and pesticides. It does not occur naturally in food. Animal studies have demonstrated that exposure to low levels of melamine produced no observable toxic effects. Exposures to high levels of melamine, or exposures to lower doses of melamine together with certain other chemicals, have caused urinary tract problems in animals. These have included urinary tract and kidney crystal and stone formation, and kidney failure. Exposures of animals to high doses of melamine over long time periods (years) have been associated with cancer of the bladder.

Because melamine is a component in plastics, there may be melamine in dinnerware, cups, and even Formica counter tops. But the amount of melamine that actually transfers from those products into food is very, very small, according to FDA.

Several melamine-contaminated foods found in recent weeks in the United States had far more than that amount of the chemical. White Rabbit candies from China were recalled after authorities in at least two states found melamine. And a New Jersey company announced that it was recalling Blue Cat Flavor Drink, after FDA testing found melamine. The chemical has also turned up in dairy products sold across Asia and, to a lesser extent, Europe.

The FDA guidelines were issued to help federal and state investigators checking for contaminated Chinese products as they enter the country and in grocery stores. To date, there have been no reports of illness from contaminated Chinese milk products in the United States. There are no approved uses for melamine to be added to food in the United States.

Melamine contamination was at the center of the tainted pet food scandal that resulted in more than 80 class actions and the creation of MDL 1850.  The federal judge overseeing the multidistrict pet food litigation has just issued final approval of a $24 million settlement that seeks to resolve claims over a massive recall of more than 90 contaminated dog and cat foods last year.