Pressure for infant formula recall mounting

Earlier this week we reported on the finding of trace amounts of melamine in U.S. supplies of infant formula. Since then, many have pressured federal regulators and manufacturers to issue recalls of their products.

One consumer group and the Illinois Attorney General have demanded the Food and Drug Administration issue a recall, but so far no action has been taken.

On Wednesday, the FDA said it discovered trace elements of melamine in at least one major brand of infant formula. The Associated Press was forced to file a Freedom of Information Act request for the documents – a spreadsheet – that details the brand name(s) of the formulas. At the time the FDA issued the “warning”, it did not say which formula had tested positive for melamine.

According to AP, Mead Johnson’s Infant Formula Powder Enfamil LIPIL contains trace elements of melamine, but the FDA corrected its own documents and told the news agency that it was actually Nestle’s Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron that tested positive.

However, the FDA said that the formula only contained trace elements of melamine, the industrial chemical typically reserved for use with plastics. Melamine was found in lethal doses in Chinese infant formula. It is added to food products as a counterfeit material so it shows a high protein content in lab tests and during inspections.

At least 50,000 infants were sickened by melamine in their formula, and nearly a handful of infants have died from poisoning.

Since the FDA issued its statement on Wednesday, makers of formula and regulators in Washington, as well consumer groups, have received non-stop calls from worried parents about the safety of their formula.

Just a week ago, the FDA said it was increasing its inspection efforts of milk-based products from China. It said it would halt any imports until they passed a rigorous inspection. However, this step-up in presence came nearly two months following the initial reports of melamine in Chinese formula, and seemingly after plenty of the product could conceivably have entered the U.S. market.

Manufacturers and regulators contend the amounts of melamine found in their products cannot injure infants, and are below the FDA-allowed minimum for melamine. The FDA said Chinese formula which was linked to sick children tested at 10,000-times the allowed limit.