Melamine Questions and Answers

1. What is melamine?

Melamine is an industrial chemical rich in nitrogen that is used in making plastics, glues and whiteboards. In the recent case in China , melamine had been used by unscrupulous traders to mask the dilution of milk with water. Because it is high in nitrogen, the addition of melamine to a food artificially increases the apparent protein content as measured with standard tests. Reports of this practice being used in China have caused widespread concern about the safety of foods using milk and milk products produced in China .

2. Is melamine unsafe?

Melamine itself is relatively safe in low amounts. It is not believed to cause cancer or birth defects based on studies in animals. At very high doses it can have bladder effects but no kidney effects have been seen in animal studies. When Melamine is combined with a related chemical, cyanuric acid, the mixture can cause kidney stones and toxic effects in the kidney.

3. How can melamine get into my food?

Melamine can be present at very low levels through transfer from adhesives and plastics containing melamine that come into contact with food. Occurrence of melamine at these levels is permitted and is well below the safety limits established by authorities in the United States and the European Union.

4. How did melamine end up in milk powder in China ?

Recently, melamine and related chemicals have been found to have been deliberately and illegally added to milk in China in an apparent attempt to hide the fact that the milk was diluted with water. In this situation, it is possible that the melamine that was added also contained cyanuric acid as an impurity and this combination of high levels of melamine and cyanuric acid would account for the serious effects seen in children in China . The contamination of milk is particularly serious for infants and small children who rely on milk for most of their nutrition.

5. Have unsafe levels of melamine been found in other food products?

In 2007, melamine was found in wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate exported from China and used in the manufacture of pet food in the United States . This caused the death of a large number of dogs and cats due to kidney failure.

6. I just read a report that melamine has been detected in my favorite food. Should I be worried?

If you are an adult, the mere detection of melamine is not a cause for concern as long as the amount detected is within established safety limits. Health authorities in Australia/New Zealand (FSANZ), Europe (EFSA) and the U.S. (FDA) have established a safety limit of 2.5 parts per million (ppm) melamine for all food products except infant formula. This means that it has been considered that foods containing up to 2.5 ppm of melamine do not pose a risk to human health.

For milk and infant formula most authorities apply a limit of 1 ppm of melamine.

7. I may have consumed some milk products contaminated with melamine. What should I do now?

The risk of harmful effects depends on the amount of melamine consumed. Most food products made in China containing milk powder that have been analyzed for the presence of melamine either have no detectable melamine or levels within generally accepted safety limits. Your risk is very small if the food you consumed is only a small part of your diet.

If you remain concerned you should consult your family physician.

8. How is melamine in food regulated?

Addition of melamine into food is not approved by the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius, or by any national authorities. The United States has established safe levels of melamine as an indirect food additive from adhesives and plastics that come into contact with food. Also, the pesticide cyromazine can be converted to melamine and approved uses of that pesticide take this into account. Of course deliberate contamination of food with melamine is illegal. The FDA has recently concluded that presence of melamine in food at or below 2.5 ppm should not be a cause for public health concern. This is similar to the conclusions of the EU, New Zealand and Singapore .

9. What actions have been taking to take/keep contaminated products out of the market place?

Governments around the world are analyzing food products that may contain milk or milk products from China and taking action to remove from sale any products that are found to be in violation of established safe limits.

Private companies are redoubling their efforts to ensure that their products are not contaminated and to take action where contamination is found.

10. Who should I contact for enquiries on affected products or for health concerns?

You should consult your local health authorities either directly or on their websites. Some useful links are provided below.

11. “A Food” was found to have 0.5 ppm melamine yet was declared ok to sell, what’s going on?

The mere detection of melamine is not a cause for concern as long as the amount detected is within established safety limits. New Zealand has established a safety limit of 2.5 parts per million melamine for all food products except infant formula. European authorities have proposed a limit of 2.5 parts per million in general foods. For milk and infant formula most authorities apply a limit of 1 ppm of melamine

The risk of harmful effects depends on the amount of melamine consumed. Most food products made in China containing milk powder that have been analyzed for the presence of melamine either have no detectable melamine or levels within generally accepted safety limits.

12. How reliable are these tests for melamine?

There are several test methods for melamine and the ability to detect melamine at very low levels is difficult and highly variable. Most methods can distinguish well between dangerous adulteration and low level presence of melamine.

Melamine can be present at very low levels through transfer from adhesives and plastics containing melamine that come into contact with food. Occurrence of melamine at these levels is permitted and is well below the safety limits established by authorities in the United States and the European Union.

What the Experts Are Saying:

WHO :

Melamine-contamination event, China, September 2008 and Questions and Answers on melamine

• The Chinese event appears to be the result of deliberate contamination of diluted milk with melamine to make it appear to have normal levels of protein measured by standard tests.
• Toxic effects are more likely to occur when melamine is present along with a related compound, cyanuric acid
• Contaminated products in China have been found to contain levels much higher than the safety thresholds for melamine established by the EU and the U.S:

“Melamine and Cyanuric Acid: Toxicity, Preliminary Risk Assessment and Guidance on Levels in Food.”

• This preliminary guidance was developed to assist national authorities in making decisions regarding possible health concerns of melamine content found in food.

EU (EFSA) : EFSA assesses possible risks related to melamine in composite foods from China

• Adult consumption of chocolate and biscuits made from contaminated milk powder should not be a concern.
• Average consumption of these products by children should also not be a concern but worst case high level consumption of highly contaminated products by children could exceed EU safety levels.
• It is not known if worst-case assumptions for children exist in Europe

Australia/New Zealand : risk assessment for dairy foods and foods containing dairy based ingredients adulterated with melamine

• A maximum level of 1 mg/kg for melamine in infant formula is considered appropriate.
• A maximum level of 2.5 mg/kg for melamine in dairy-based foods and foods containing dairy-based ingredients is appropriate and acceptable
• Foods with low levels of dairy-based ingredients, such as candies and biscuits, are likely to be infrequently consumed and in small amounts so they are not considered to be a high-risk food for potential dietary exposure to melamine even if the dairy ingredient has been adulterated

Singapore Agriculture and Veterinary Authority (AVA) : Consumers need not to be unduly concerned over melamine incidents

• Products in Singapore which have been found to contain melamine should not be an undue concern for consumers
• Levels of melamine detected in products in Singapore are much lower than the amounts found in contaminated milk in China and are within safety limits established by the U.S. FDA.

United States FDA : Interim Melamine and Analogues Safety/Risk Assessment

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration conducted an interim safety assessment of the safety of melamine-related consumption. Key findings were:
• "FDA is currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns.
• In [other] food products, FDA concludes that levels of melamine and melamine-related compounds below 2.5 parts per million (ppm) do not raise concerns
• The FDA explains how the 2.5 mg/kg food safety limit has been calculated based on the TDI of 0.63 mg/kg body weight.

Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia :

• The Minister of Health Malaysia had declared that permissible levels of melamine were set at 2.5 parts per million (ppm) for adult food products and 1ppm for baby food.

source: ww.afic.org