photo by Jessie McClain
Melamine has been found in US formulas.
Not too surprising. US infant formula contains Milk Protein Concentrates (MPCs) which include: whey, caseinates, hydrolyzed caseinates, hydrolyzed whey, and milk proteins. MPCs are almost all imported from other countries. Most of it from New Zealand. I wrote the FDA, wondering why they weren't testing it, when the contamination in China was first announced. I never got a response from anyone at the FDA. While the theory seems to be that there was deliberate contamination of the milk by Chinese farmers, I think the contamination may also be the result of ultrafiltration of these MPCs. Some filters used by the dairy industry are made from melamine. It would seem possible that these filters could get worn out with long term use or by chemical cleaning. Even if according to the FDA the levels of melamine in US infant formulas are extremely low, why is contamination continuing to happen? And why is it that now that we are faced with actual contamination, the FDA has changed its tune of no contamination would be tolerated in US formulas to low levels are acceptable? We are now suppose to believe that these low levels do not cause problems. What about high risk infants--premature infants? What is in a can of infant formula? Do parents know the risks? Seems like even the FDA hasn't a clue about the safety of infant formula
Copyright 2008 Valerie W. McClain
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