I don't like writing about formula contamination. I really prefer to stick to positive messages about breastfeeding, and I always think of the wonderful mothers I know who have had to use formula in spite of heroic efforts to breastfeed.
But, to me, this story isn't about breastmilk vs. formula. It's about poor regulation of formula in the U.S. That's something that all of us should be concerned about, whether we breastfeed or formula feed.
You recall the terrible story of melamine contamination in Chinese formula earlier this year. Now the FDA has announced that that they found trace amounts of melamine in one sample of U.S. made formula. An FDA spokeswoman said that the formula in question was not made with any Chinese ingredients.
The FDA has been expanding tests for melamine in all food products, including infant formula, Leon said. The formula finding came from relatively new, more sensitive tests the agency has deployed in recent weeks.
FDA scientists conducted two tests of the formula sample, one finding a melamine level of 137 parts per billion (ppb) and another measuring 140 ppb. A level of 250 ppb or less is considered a trace amount, Leon said.
But some consumer advocates said it was premature to say there was no risk for infants.
The FDA's earlier determination that 250 ppb of melamine was a trace amount was intended for foods other than infant formula, said Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst with the Environmental Working Group.
"This is out of step with what the FDA said earlier," she told Reuters.
"We need to have a zero-tolerance policy for contaminants in infant formula," Lunder said. "Babies eat only formula for months and months on end. They are exception vulnerable."
[The FDA spokewoman] said the FDA was in the process of determining what amounts of melamine pose a risk to infants and would release a public advisory later. In the meantime, parents should not change their babies' feeding habits, she said.
The Associated Press reports (in a more detailed article) that the FDA stated in October that they are "currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns."
FDA scientists said then that they couldn't set an acceptable level of melamine exposure in infant formula because science hadn't had enough time to understand the chemical's effects on infants' underdeveloped kidneys. Plus, there is the complicating factor that infant formula often constitutes a newborn's entire diet.
The agency added, however, that its position did not mean that any exposure to a detectable level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula would result in harm to infants...
It was not until the AP inquired about tests on domestic formula that the FDA articulated that while it couldn't set a safe exposure for infants, it would accept some melamine in formula — raising the question of whether the decision to accept very low concentrations was made only after traces were detected.
So, to sum up: 1) the FDA is only now trying to determine what amount of melamine poses a risk to infants; 2) the FDA is only now using tests sensitive enough to pick up trace amounts of things like melamine; 3) the FDA appears to have moved from a zero tolerance position to a 'some is fine, but we don't know how much' position pretty quickly.
Anyone else think that we need better regulation here?
