Melamine scare shows difficulty of policing food

Walk into an Asian grocery store, and you get a small taste of what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is up against when it tries to track down products that may be tainted with the chemical melamine.

Shelves overflow with brightly colored labels in different languages - Chinese here, Thai there, Japanese over there.

Small wonder that the agency manages to inspect only 1 percent of food imported by this country. Or that melamine keeps popping up in the U.S. food supply like some kind of toxic Whack-a-Mole.

Last week, the FDA identified trace amounts of melamine in baby formula sold here. In China, much larger amounts of the chemical killed at least four children and sickened thousands who drank formula. The FDA urged U.S. parents not to worry, because the amounts were so small, but it admitted that it did not know whether any level of melamine is safe for children.

Melamine is a chemical usually used in the manufacture of plastics. It is added to food products to artificially boost the protein content. Its presence in food, like that of other chemicals, is not believed to be harmful to adults in small amounts.

The challenge of protecting the food supply is enormous. The United States imports about $320 billion worth of products from China yearly, and only last week opened its first inspection office in that country.

But food-safety experts say the FDA repeatedly failed to act quickly when it discovered melamine in the food supply - a charge the FDA rejects. They also warn that the global nature of the food supply means food contamination likely will keep cropping up.

"Until we are assured that the food from China is safe, I would shy away from it," said Tony Corbo, senior lobbyist on the food campaign for Food & Water Watch, a consumer-advocacy group. "The sky is the limit in terms of where things can show up."

He said the FDA had moved slowly when reports of melamine in dairy products, including candy and cookies, began surfacing in North America. After the Canadian government on Sept. 30 banned Koala's March cookies that had been found to have melamine, Corbo asked the FDA to notify the public of the health risk. The cookies were sold in many stores, including Walmart.

Contaminated Koala's March cookies turned up in California and Alabama before the FDA put out a news release Oct. 17 saying that Lotte USA Inc., which distributes the cookies in this country, had been recalling the cookies since Sept. 29 because they might contain melamine. Then, on Nov. 12, the FDA ordered all Chinese dairy products held at the U.S. border until they were proved melamine-free.

The episode has left many experts wondering why the FDA acted so slowly, despite apparent risks. The news about trace amounts of melamine in formula here came out only after the Associated Press filed requests demanding results of FDA tests on formula.

"This agency has had a credibility problem on a whole host of issues, and this adds to it," Corbo said.

Melamine was added to baby formula intentionally in China. The amount of melamine in U.S. formula is so small that the FDA says it believes it may have come from can linings or manufacturing equipment.

The FDA defended its actions.

"If we find any problems, we will take the necessary actions to remove the products," FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek said.

Melamine winds up in food for several reasons. Chinese cows sometimes are so poorly nourished that their milk does not contain enough protein to pass the tests. And some Chinese dairy producers water down milk to boost profits. Melamine helps both kinds of milk pass tests, said Nancy Childs, a food marketing professor at St. Joseph's University.

Melamine in pet food with ingredients from China killed and sickened thousands of animals in this country last year. Some of that melamine-laced pet food made its way into feed for swine and chicken, but federal officials declared the pork and chicken safe for human consumption because minimal melamine remained in the final product.

Melamine can cause life-threatening kidney stones. Children and pets are especially vulnerable.

In the last two weeks, melamine has been found in fish feed and chicken eggs in Hong Kong and in mainland China, suggesting that the chemical has crept broadly into the food supply there.

A quick check at two Philadelphia Asian food markets found some Chinese products containing dairy Nov. 18. Reporters in other U.S. cities have found products on store shelves that tested positive for melamine after recalls had been issued.

The FDA's job of keeping possibly dangerous imports out of stores here is "almost an overwhelming task," said Michael Hansen, senior research associate for Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports. But he said other factors had aggravated the problem. Recent presidents have failed to fund the FDA properly, leaving it with too few inspectors, he said.

"What about dietary supplements? Nutrition bars? Sports energy products? How many of those are coming from China? We don't know," Hansen said.

Globalization heightens the difficulty, he added. Cookies sold to U.S. consumers may contain eggs from China and chocolate from Switzerland that are processed into food in Thailand.

Labels on food sold here must say where the product is manufactured, but origins of individual ingredients do not have to be disclosed.

The fears have sent food companies scrambling to reassure customers that their products are safe.

Hershey's on Sept. 29 posted a notice on its Web site saying it had never purchased dairy products from China.

Philadelphia's Frankford Candy & Chocolate Co. Inc., which makes sweets under many names, including Disney and Harry Potter, did not return a request for comment, but its Web site says, "to the best of our knowledge, we can declare that melamine is not present in any of our products." The statement also said that Frankford had received guarantees from its suppliers and manufacturers that the products were melamine-free.

Camden-based Campbell Soup Co. said it did not get dairy products from China and said almost all of its products sold in North America use ingredients only from this continent.

Tasty Baking Co. of Philadelphia said it had received written statements from suppliers that ingredients do not contain melamine or do not come from China or both.

New Jersey-based Pinnacle Foods Group Inc., which makes products under the Swanson, Vlasic and other names, did not return a request for comment.

Whole Foods said it subjected all its suppliers to extensive testing before agreeing to sell their products.

But Corbo urged consumers to be careful.

"Try to find out where the stuff is made or who is producing it," he said.