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Food Poisoning Update: FDA Blasted on Melamine
Contaminated Infant Formula Source of Article: http://honolulu.injuryboard.com/toxic-substances/food-poisoning-update-fda-blasted-on-melamine-contaminated-infant-formula.aspx?googleid=252462 December 01, 2008 - 12:56 PM The Washington
Post reported today that the FDA is being blasted from all sides
for allowing the Melamine food poisoning crisis to spin out of control. The
story identifies sources of Melamine contamination: The FDA found melamine
and cyanuric acid, a related chemical, in samples
of baby formula made by major Melamine
was found in Good Start Supreme Infant Formula With Iron made by Nestle,
and cyanuric acid was detected in Enfamil Lipil With Iron infant formula powder made by Mead
Johnson. A spokesman for Nestle did not respond to repeated calls and e-mails
for comment yesterday. This situation has been in public view for sometime and
finally Congress has weighed in and let the corporations know that putting babies
at risk will not be tolerated: "This
FDA, this Bush administration, instead of protecting the public health, is
protecting industry," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro
(D-Conn.), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA
budget. In an interview, DeLauro said she wants the agency to disclose its
findings and to develop a plan to remove melamine from formula. "We're
talking about babies, about the most vulnerable. This really makes me
angry." Melamine food poisoning is just another problem that
highlights the threat to American food supply as a result of unscrupulous
corporations that put people over profits and the take over of regulatory
agencies like the FDA by corporate operatives who were instructed by
Presidents Bush and, I am sorry to say, The same thing is happening to our food supply that has
happened recently on Wall Street. The public has been battered for 20 years
with politicians and corporations assailing government regulation as
"bad". Think about it as you watch the financial and food supply
markets in crisis. Americans must rely on the government to regulate these
industries and to protect us from the greed and negligence on industries that
affect public health and safety. The problem started when "Chinese
manufacturers deliberately added the chemical to watered-down formula to make
it appear to contain higher levels of protein. More than 50,000 Asian infants
were hospitalized, and at least four died." Then the FDA looked at American manufacturers and now
say that their levels of Melamine and cyanuric acid
and okay for babies. The catch here is that the FDA has admitted that they do
not know what exposure is safe for infants: Agency
scientists have maintained they could not set a safe level of melamine
exposure for babies because they do not understand the effects of long-term
exposure on a baby's developing kidneys. The problem is exacerbated by the
fact that infant formula is a baby's sole source of food for many months.
Premature infants absorb an especially large dose of the chemical, compared
with full-term babies. The Washington Post story is must reading for parents
with babies getting infant formula. Other credible reporting sources from
consumer advocates are reporting other sources of the Melamine food
poisoning threat including infant formula from Vietnam. |
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