FDA Insists Melamine is "Okay"

"The North American food supply has been contaminated—again. This time, it’s not E. coli, Mad Cow, avian flu, or salmonella.

The most-recent headline grabber is the chemical melamine, an organic compound, which entered animal feeds and is part of the pet-food contamination that resulted in 150 brand and 5,300 product recalls.

..Last week, as part of its investigation, the FDA ordered all vegetable protein imports from China used in human and animal food detained.

But the agency is adamant that the chemical poses little threat to humans. John Groves, professor of chemistry at Princeton University, told the Associated Press that when tested in rats and mice, melamine has shown very low toxicity, meaning it is only harmful in extremely high doses. Groves said it has produced stones that resulted in bladder tumors in rats when they were fed a diet that was 10,000 parts per million, or 1 percent, melamine."

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