WHO Tightens Tolerable Daily Intake for Melamine
WHO experts have reportedly determined that a tolerable daily intake (TDI) of melamine is 0.2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg bw/d). This threshold is lower than the one recently adopted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which accepts 0.63 mg/kg bw/d as an appropriate TDI for dietary melamine. The WHO standard is also more stringent than the TDIs used in both Europe (0.5 mg/kg mw/d) and Canada (0.35 mg/kg bw/d). Although the organization felt that the U.S. measure provides an acceptable margin of safety, it nevertheless stressed that melamine is not ever considered “safe” for consumption. “Melamine is a contaminant that should not be in food. However, sometimes it is unavoidable,” said WHO in a statement. “TDI represents the tolerable amount of unavoidable contaminant in food that a person can ingest on a daily basis without appreciable health risks.” See Bloomberg.com, December 6, 2008; Law360, December 8, 2008; FoodProductionDaily.com, December 10, 2008.
In a related development, Walgreen Co. has issued a recall for teddy bears sold in its stores because the accompanying chocolate bars may contain melamine. Walgreen publicized a voluntary recall for 173 “Dressy Teddy Bear With Chocolate” products after FDA discovered an unacceptable amount of melamine in some of the 4-ounce chocolate bars sold with the toy. FDA has not specified the exact melamine levels found in the chocolate. See Law360, December 8, 2008.
