| ■ Consumers Union Urges Expanded Testing of Infant Formula | 2009.01.16 |
| Consumers Union urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday to expand testing of infant formula for melamine and related compounds, and to recall all contaminated products. The request came after the FDA published two new reports of contamination on its Web site over the holidays, doubling the number cases previously reported last November. The FDA deemed melamine levels in the new cases extremely minute and safe for babies. Traces of the industrial chemical melamine and a byproduct, cyanuric acid, have now been found in four of 89 containers of infant formula made in the United States, the Associated Press reported. The two new cases involved containers of Mead Johnson's Enfamil LIPIL with Iron that had traces of cyanuric acid, a weak acid used as a chlorine stabilizer in swimming pools. Previous tests had found traces of melamine in a can of milk-based liquid Nestle Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron. A third major formula maker, Abbott Laboratories, whose brands include Similac, told the AP in November that in-house tests had detected traces of melamine in its formula, but far below levels the FDA found in the other formulas. |