Small Melamine Amounts in Formula Are Safe, FDA Says

By Catherine Larkin

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The industrial chemical melamine is safe in baby formula in small amounts, U.S. regulators said, revising their earlier recommendations.

The Food and Drug Administration’s discovery of melamine and a byproduct of the chemical in two U.S.-made formulas doesn’t pose health risks, said Stephen Sundlof, director of the agency’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, on a conference call today with reporters. The FDA had said before finding the contamination that melamine may be harmful in infant formula in any amount.

The FDA began blocking Chinese milk products from entering U.S. ports this month after melamine-tainted milk sickened more than 50,000 children in China since September. Members of Congress and consumer groups criticized the agency earlier this week for not publicly disclosing that a formula made in the U.S. had also tested positive for “traceâ€