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Melamine limit meets WHO norms

By Xie Yu (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-08 08:27

The country's existing limits for melamine in baby milk food and other dairy products need not be changed going by the latest World Health Organization (WHO) guideline.

Taking 10 mg melamine a day is not harmful for a person who weighs 50 kg, according to WHO's "tolerable daily intake" (TDI) released in Ottawa, Canada, on Saturday.

The TDI for melamine, set at 0.2 mg per kg body weight by international experts, is lower than previous limits suggested by some countries' food safety authorities, a statement on the WHO website said.

"We expect this will better guide the authorities in protecting the health of the public," said WHO's Director of Food Safety Jurgen Schlundt.

Chen Junshi, a senior researcher with the National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety said: "WHO's daily limit is a guideline for all countries to control their melamine standards. It means normal people can consume up to 10 mg melamine a day without any harmful effects."

"It also means the country's existing limit is safe," he said.

The government set a limit of 1 mg a kg for infant milk food and 2.5 mg a kg for other dairy products in October after the melamine-contaminated milk food scandal. Yang Jianhong, a member of Dairy Association of China, said the TDI "is scientific because it gives a tolerable level based on people's body weight".

In early October, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said 2.5 mg of melamine in 1 kg of milk product would not cause health problems, but baby milk food exported to the US must be free of melamine.

Later, the FDA said baby milk food could contain up to 1 part per million (or 1 mg in 1 kg) of melamine, the same level set by China, after traces of melamine were reportedly found in the infant formula of a major US company and a related chemical, cyanuric acid, was detected in another big firm's product.