Following the recent scare in China where over 50,000 babies have fallen ill and four have died from ingesting baby milk contaminated with melamine, the European Commission (EC) is banning all imports into the European Union (EU) of Chinese baby foods that contain any traces of milk.
The EU will also be doing random tests of all Chinese food products containing more than 15 per cent milk.
Commission health spokeswoman Nina Papadoulaki told BBC News that the EU does not import milk or dairy products from China, but it does import processed foods like biscuits (cookies) and chocolates that could contain traces of powdered milk.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) also released a statement today saying that the EC has asked it to provide urgent scientific advice on the health risks for European consumers from imported Chinese food products that may be contaminated with melamine.
The EFSA said even in worst case scenarios, adults in Europe who eat chocolate and biscuits containing milk powder contaminated with melamine are not going to exceed the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI)of 0.5 mg/kg body weight.
Also children who don’t eat an excess of biscuits, milk-based toffee and chocolate made with contaminated milk powder will not exceed the TDI, but in worst case scenarios, children who eat a very high level of these foods, and if such foods contain milk with a high level of melamine, they could exceed the TDI by three times or more.
High levels of melamine damage the kidneys. The EFSA said for the time being, because of the absence of data on contaminated milk powder, it is basing its worse case scenario assessments on reports from China of contaminated infant formula. The Authority stressed there is no way of knowing at present if such a theoretically high level could occur in Europe.
Source: BBC, EFSA.
Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD