Is melamine in foods a health risk?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has noted that melamine is commonly found throughout the environment because it has many approved uses and has established a tolerable intake level representing the amount of melamine that a person can ingest on a daily basis without appreciable health risk. (Levels in food typically fall far below this level and do not pose a health risk.) According to the WHO and numerous other regulatory agencies, the very low levels of melamine in the environment and in some foods do not pose a health risk. By contrast, the very high levels of melamine found in some milk ingredients and milk powders in China – which caused renal illnesses – were the result of intentional addition of melamine to foods, which is illegal.
