Comments on: Melamine In Infant Formula

By: csimmons

csimmons — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:40:04 +0000

According to storyofstuff.com (a great video, definitely recommend you all watch it), there are 100,000 synthetic chemicals in use today, and only a few have been tested for health effects, let alone synergistic effects. The highest concentration of toxins in mammals is in human breast milk. Where is all the regulation for how our products are made, how many resources it’s allowed to use, and how safe it is for us?

By: nharmuth

nharmuth — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:02:07 +0000

It scares me that there has been a lot of focus on chemical threats to children lately – lead in paint, BPA in baby bottles, and now melamine in formula. I feel like there is something seriously lacking as far as regulation of products is concerned. Perhaps it’s my age getting the best of me right now, but I’m extremely concerned about raising children in the future and knowing that they are going to be protected from harm’s way. If the government is allowing trace amounts of melamine in baby formula who knows what else is floating around in our drinks and food.
So it’s been decided, I’m taking over the FDA!

By: rkoehler

rkoehler — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:10:00 +0000

I find it ironic that everyone’s afraid of Chinese imports due to the melamine issue as well as the multiple items that had to be recalled in the past year due to traces of lead in paint, yet it appears as though we can’t even trust our own government. I know many people are cynical in general about the level of trust we can have in governmental agencies but the fact that the FDA seems to be apathetic to the food and beverages it allows its own citizens to consume pretty much qualifies as one of Dr. Kassel’s all too frequently occurring “astounding moments.”

By: awood

awood — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:33:28 +0000

I completely agree with you Christine. I have come to find that Americans really cannot rely on the FDA to make the right choices about our food (or general product) safety. I found it shocking that many countries (including many in Europe) will not import food, particularly meat, from the US because of the low standards of the FDA and the use of previously banned chemicals. Now that’s scary. Not to mention the China lead export of a few years ago that included toothpaste, cosmetics, and pet food. That was the first time that I realized that imported products don’t follow the same manufacturing restrictions as products made here. Your average consumer isn’t checking which products are imports versus homemade, they are assuming that they all pass the same standards and are equally safe. Well, maybe not any more…Cynical as it is, I’ve come to regard these government agencies as just another business trying to make a dime and not too concerned with who gets hurt in the meantime.

By: csimmons

csimmons — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:36:23 +0000

I am really, really not surprised. Compared to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), I think the FDA is a joke. We seem to always be one step behind them in banning unsafe foods and products. An example unrelated to food but still important – there were knee joint replacements on the U.S. and European markets for years, but research showed that they were defective and degraded or broke within a few years. The E.U. banned them, while they continued to be sold on U.S. markets for at least five more years. It’s really ridiculous. The E.U. has a Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) that in 2007, had 7354 alerts for safety concerns in food, 12% of them of Chinese origin (http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/rapidalert/report2007_en.pdf). It covers mercury content, food supplements, and pesticides, to name a few. In general I think the EFSA is more progressive than the FDA in banning foods until thorough research has been completed. A comparison of the FDA’s website (http://www.fda.gov/) versus that of EFSA (http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_home.htm) indicates to me the importance of exhaustive research and relaying it to the public.

By: adetmer

adetmer — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:23:09 +0000

I think that if the FDA first said they “could not establish a safe level of Melamine for infant formula” then later goes on to say that less than 1ppm is a safe amount then there is probably inadequate and incomplete research on the subject. I find it scary that the FDA is allowing this substance to be in these products even if it is in trace amounts. It would make sense to band melamine until further extensive research is conducted because there is obviously adverse health effects to consuming it.