Fearing Melamine Contamination, FDA Places Restriction on Chinese Imports

Late yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it was placing extensive detainment restrictions on all imported food stuffs from China, due to the increased fear of melamine contamination. Since September, trace amounts of melamine have been found in Chinese-manufactured products ranging from pudding and drinks to baby formula and pet food. The melamine, an industrial chemical added to watered-down milk to make it appear to have appropriate protein levels in tests, has sickened 53,000 children and hospitalized another 13,000 people across the Chinese region. While the US does not import milk or baby formula products directly from China, many Chinese products made with milk are imported into the country, generally sold in Asian specialty markets.

“The FDA has performed extensive sampling and analysis of a variety of products from China containing milk or milk-derived components,” and found melamine in a number of those products, says spokesman Michael Herndon.

With border detainment, the imported products will be delayed by a month while extensive tests are performed for possible melamine contamination.