Supplements Spared From Melamine “Bombs” – So Far, UNPA’s Israelsen Says
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
The dietary supplement industry has "been lucky," dodging a serious adulteration problem like the melamine contamination that has plagued pet food and infant formula businesses, Loren Israelsen says
|
The dietary supplement industry has "been lucky," dodging a serious adulteration problem like the melamine contamination that has plagued pet food and infant formula businesses, Loren Israelsen says. "Bombs have been going off all around us and we've been missed so far," Israelsen, executive director of the United Natural Products Alliance, said during the group's seminar on dietary supplement good manufacturing practices Sept. 30. Israelsen had polled conference attendees on whether they tested protein ingredients for melamine, a contaminant found in Chinese-sourced pet food, and, more recently, milk-based products such as formula. Melamine has been linked to adverse events, including death (1 'The Tan Sheet' Sept. 15, 2008, In Brief). The overwhelming majority - more than 85 percent - of participants did not test for melamine in raw proteins. "I suggest you start doing that," Israelsen said at the conference in Salt Lake City. Meanwhile, FDA has specified thresholds for melamine contamination. In infant formula, no level of melamine or related compounds has been found to be safe, the agency says in an interim safety and risk assessment Oct. 3. The agency is unable to establish any safe level of melamine in formula due to "gaps in our scientific knowledge about the toxicity of melamine" in infants such as consequences of formula being the sole source of nutrition for infants and the effects on premature babies with immature kidney function, FDA says. In other food products, FDA concludes melamine levels of 2.5 parts per million and below do not raise concerns. The agency calculated this estimate based on a worst case exposure scenario in which 50 percent of the diet would be contaminated at that level. FDA says it continues to screen products, work with foreign health agencies and governments and monitor reports from international sources to assure no melamine-tainted products enter the U.S. market. Separately, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., sent a letter to Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach Sept. 29 requesting additional information on FDA's actions to protect the U.S. public from melamine contamination. The legislators requested an answer within 20 days. - Jessica Lake ([email protected]) |