Food and Drug Administration Mandates Allowable Levels of Melamine

It seems the Food and Drug Administration is mandating levels of melamine in baby formula. Now pardon me if I do not jump for joy at a government agency attempting to do something about the current global scare about melamine tainted milk products. I think my lack of enthusiasm is clearly based on the fact that the latest news coming out of China is that the total of some 50,000 unfortunate people affected by melamine has jumped nearly five times the previous total to some roughly two-hundred and ninety-four thousand (294,000) individuals, according to YahooHealth . And that of eight-hundred and sixty one (861) children, one-hundred and fifty-four (154) of those are in critical condition, with the fatality total of four (4) babies, rising to six (6). I guess were fortunate that according to YahooHealth no one outside of China has died from melamine, but don’t expect me to feel comforted about that, when I’m clearly astounded by the fact that the F.D.A would even consider guidelines for ingesting melamine that is used to make products like:

… countertops, dry erase boards, fabrics, glues, housewares and flame retardants. Melamine is one of the major components in Pigment Yellow 150, a colorant in inks and plastics. ~Wikipedia

By the way, if you read the Wikipedia entry on melamine, you’ll probably be shocked to read that it is mixed with formaldehyde.

You might also chalk it up to the fact that China’s Communist government has nothing to fear from its people, and therefore feels no compunctions about putting melamine in baby formula (among many other things) just to raise the protein amount in it.

I must admit that my initial reaction was some what the same as Dr. Jerome Paulson, the Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Children’s National Medical Center in (of all places) Washington, D.C. He clearly stated that, and I quote, “(Dr. Paulson) thinks the FDA should research the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to melamine and cyanuric acid, and not just “assume it’s safe, and then 15 years from now find out that it’s not.” My initial reaction is, that if according to the FDA these doses of melamine are “low-doses”, what happens when this substance builds up in the body of a person, especially a child if they are fed baby formula with melamine present in it? It seems to me that in the long haul this will not be good for the U.S. Dairy industry itself, as people’s reaction to it, and the evidence backs me up on this, would be to steer clear of products like baby formula. Does the F.D.A think we are that ignorant? That the modern parent is incapable of doing their homework on what products (more than likely imported) are or might be melamine tainted? And to make matters worse it would not surprise me that people would interpret this mandate on melamine consumption to mean that the federal government doesn’t care, just like the Chinese government doesn’t care. In the end this could wind up hurting the little man, more so than the federal government, because the F.D.A. clearly wants us to go against prevailing evidence and trust that their mandate will not wind up with American people in the hospital or some American father or mother mourning the loss of their child. So in that vein I’m putting this out as a simple warning to people to do your homework, educate yourself first, then use that education to influence your decision.

JDB

Links Referenced:

U.S. Government Sets Melamine Ingestion Standards

China reports huge increase in children sickened by tainted milk