The FDA continues to take action to attempt to limit the impact of the China milk scandal on U.S. consumers. As part of its ongoing strategy to address the present problem with melamine contamination of consumer products exported from the People’s Republic of China, FDA has expanded its import controls on Chinese dairy products, and food and feed products manufactured in China that contain dairy ingredients. Candy, snacks, bakery products, pet food and other Chinese products that contain milk will now be detained at the border until tests prove that they are not contaminated. This action was taken to help ensure that only those Chinese dairy products (and food and feed products manufactured in China that contain dairy ingredients) which are not contaminated with melamine and melamine-related compounds reach U.S. consumers.

No adverse health effects have been reported in the United States from contamination with melamine of dairy products or dairy containing products. But melamine is not approved for direct addition to human or animal foods and no manufacturer is allowed to deliberately add it to any food for U.S. consumers.  Since melamine was discovered in infant formula in September it apparently has sickened more than 50,000 infants in China and killed at least four. Since that time, melamine has been found in a wide range of other products, including milk, eggs and fish feed. Testing by the FDA has detected melamine and cyanuric acid, a related contaminant, in a number of products that contain milk or milk-derived ingredients, including candy and beverages, according to the FDA alert. China is also one of the world’s biggest makers of supplements, and some protein powders and shakes are made largely with powdered milk.

The agency has at times blocked imports of individual food products, but it is rare for it to block an entire category of one country’s foods. The widely spread assessment is that food and feed dealers in China added melamine to their products because it increases nitrogen content to give the appearance in testing that protein levels meet specifications.

Concern has been expressed about delays spilling over to other food imports, but the FDA said the percentage of food subject to the import alert is small. Another possible issue is that private laboratories which perform product tests for FDA compliance already reportedly have long waiting lists. The agency said it won’t release the imported food unless an independent laboratory verifies that representative samples contain no melamine or cyanuric acid, a melamine derivative.
At a broader level, one wonders what the alert may do to the recently negotiated opening of FDA offices in China. The timing of the FDA alert coincides with an upcoming  meeting between Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt and top Chinese health officials in Beijing.