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Dr Shapiro completed his undergraduate education at UC San Diego earning a B S in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and a B A in Political Science He furthered his education at UCLA where he earned a Masters Degree in Public…
FAST FACTS
Earlier this year, Chinese authorities found large levels of a potentially harmful chemical in many of its milk-based products...including its infant formula and milk. By now, many are well aware that this compound is melamine, which led to thousands of hospitalizations and a number of deaths in China. Worldwide panic ensued, but at the time, the concern in the United States was minimized as Chinese manufacturers were not licensed to sell infant formula in the U.S. Of course, this did not preclude its use here in the U.S, but to date, no Chinese manufactured infant formula has been found on the shelves of U.S. markets.
Now fast forward to this past week where reports surfaced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently performed tests on infant formula made by U.S. based manufacturers. And although unable and disappointed I cannot locate these results on the FDA website, many news agencies reported the results of the findings (under the Freedom of Information Act)...which found melamine in the formula of one manufacturer and a related compound in the formula of another manufacturer. And, of note, a third has since done its own testing which did find trace levels of melamine in its own formula. With these three companies accounting for more than 90% of all infant formula produced in the U.S., the panic button has been sounded again as evidenced by what I am witnessing here at Daily Strength, in my office, and in many of the local parenting groups in my own community. So I thought now would be a good time to shed some light on these recent developments.
But what is melamine? Melamine is a very small molecule used in a variety of industrial products, including its use as a flame retardant and as a component of a variety of every day products ranging from cooking utensils to paper. However, it should be noted that melamine and its related compounds...cyanuric acid, ammeline and ammelide...are not approved for use in human and animal food here in the U.S. The concern arises when there is exposure to high levels of melamine or when melamine and its related compounds exist together at lower levels. Under these conditions, there is potential for the development of urinary tract problems...primarily, kidney/urinary tract stones and ultimately, kidney failure.
How has the FDA responded? Well, after what appeared to be extreme reluctance by the FDA in determining and providing safe exposure levels over the last couple of months, a threshold was just released two days ago...1 part per million of melamine in formula...with the caveat that no related compounds (cyanuric acid, ammeline, and ammelide) are present as well. And although it is not clear as to how this level was established, it is the same threshold used in Canada and China and happens to be significantly above the trace amounts recently detected and described above.
And what am I telling my patients? Something, I am sure, many of you are interested in. I begin with reminding parents that the problem in China allegedly evolved from directly manipulating melamine levels in order to increase the overall protein level in formula...an ethical and disturbing no-no. In the U.S., melamine is forbidden to be added as a food ingredient, but it appears it can be found in trace amounts of food (infant formula included) as melamine is used in products related to the food preparation process. And while the circumstances in which the FDA quickly responded with a threshold level just a couple of days ago may generate further questions and concerns, at the present time, I am not changing any feeding practices for the infants in my practice who rely upon the nutrition of infant formula. And to further that point, my response to the question that my parents often ask and take comfort in, I would make no changes if it was my own child.
Questions? Concerns? I'd love to hear them.
Dr. Jeremy
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Displaying comments 15-1 of 15
Got a Question?
This just happened right before thanksgiving 2008. She is still not very well, still recovering from the damage of the drug melamine, which I believe she received from halloween candy. We live in Virginia, and it makes me wonder how many other kids were sent home from school, or by their doctors, saying that they had the flu, but nobody bothered to test their urine to find out the real culprit after halloween.
I'm sorry to hear of the problems but foods produced in the U.S. are prohibited to use melamine.
Dr. Jeremy
Sincerely,
Willow54
Should not be any health concerns? Aye.
Is zero percent melamine and cyanuric acid compounds an impossibility?
That said I think that it's really sick the way the FDA first says they cannot establish a 'safe' level for melamine in formula, THEN as if by magic, comes up with one.
I also think it's hyppocritical for them to say that formula that contains melamine is safe when they're up at arms about kids having PETS in the house.
I'd suggest getting formula from health food companies where they're more careful about what goes into their products.
http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/do...
Also, Dee, I do not believe there will be a recall based on the current findings by the FDA. The levels would indeed have to be higher.
Dr. Jeremy
dee