Laboratory tests have revealed melamine in eight popular brands of imported powdered milk, raising concerns among health experts and parents.
Rich in nitrogen and relatively cheap, adding melamine to sub-standard or watered-down milk makes the protein level appear higher.
“More than 100 brands of milk have been tested in various laboratories. The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution [BSTI] lab found the Chinese brand Yashli-1 to contain 86.02mg of melamine per kg,” Azmal Hossain, director-general of the BSTI, told IRIN.
However a test by the Department of Chemistry of Dhaka University (DU) found 280mg of melamine per kg of the Yashli-1 brand.
The DU test found 459mg/kg of melamine in Nido and 390mg/kg in Diploma – two popular brands in Bangladesh.
In October 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in an interim risk assessment on melamine, established a tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 0.63mg of melamine per kg of body weight per day.
The TDI is defined as the estimated maximum amount of an agent to which individuals may be exposed daily over their lifetimes without appreciable health risk.
Toxic chemical
“Powdered milk manufacturers use melamine to enhance protein levels. But melamine is a toxic chemical and cannot be digested over a certain level,” chemistry department chairman Tajmeri Islam said.
On 17 November, the Supreme Court directed the Health Ministry to send samples of all brands of powdered milk on domestic markets to the World Health Organization (WHO) for testing.
BSTI scientists maintain that anything more than 0.1mg of melamine per kg of powdered milk is unsafe for children. For adults, the recommended limit would be 2.5mg per kg.
“Too much consumption of melamine could lead to inflation of the kidneys and result in permanent damage,” warned ABM Farouque of the department of pharmacy and clinical pharmacology of Dhaka University. “Melamine also causes kidney stones,” he said.
For parents who trusted these products, the news can be devastating.
“This is a terrible situation. My five-year-old son and two-year-old daughter have been drinking diluted powdered milk since birth. I don’t know how much damage has been done to their kidneys,” said Lutfunnessa from Dhaka.
Tough measures
On 23 October the Bangladesh High Court ordered the government to stop the sale and display of eight brands of milk powder found tainted with melamine until receipt of lab test reports from abroad.
Earlier, the BSTI cancelled the licences of two importers of melamine-tainted powdered milk.
The government has decided not to release any imported milk-powder consignments from the ports before BSTI submits its test report on whether any of the 36 samples it collected from Chittagong on 20 September were contaminated with melamine.
In addition, the Institute of Public Health and Nutrition has stopped processing the registration of certain brands with high melamine content while their local agents have been ordered to withdraw their products from the market.
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Rich in nitrogen and relatively cheap, adding melamine to sub-standard or watered-down milk makes the protein level appear higher.
“More than 100 brands of milk have been tested in various laboratories. The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution [BSTI] lab found the Chinese brand Yashli-1 to contain 86.02mg of melamine per kg,” Azmal Hossain, director-general of the BSTI, told IRIN.
However a test by the Department of Chemistry of Dhaka University (DU) found 280mg of melamine per kg of the Yashli-1 brand.
The DU test found 459mg/kg of melamine in Nido and 390mg/kg in Diploma – two popular brands in Bangladesh.
In October 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in an interim risk assessment on melamine, established a tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 0.63mg of melamine per kg of body weight per day.
The TDI is defined as the estimated maximum amount of an agent to which individuals may be exposed daily over their lifetimes without appreciable health risk.
Toxic chemical
“Powdered milk manufacturers use melamine to enhance protein levels. But melamine is a toxic chemical and cannot be digested over a certain level,” chemistry department chairman Tajmeri Islam said.
On 17 November, the Supreme Court directed the Health Ministry to send samples of all brands of powdered milk on domestic markets to the World Health Organization (WHO) for testing.
BSTI scientists maintain that anything more than 0.1mg of melamine per kg of powdered milk is unsafe for children. For adults, the recommended limit would be 2.5mg per kg.
“Too much consumption of melamine could lead to inflation of the kidneys and result in permanent damage,” warned ABM Farouque of the department of pharmacy and clinical pharmacology of Dhaka University. “Melamine also causes kidney stones,” he said.
Photo: David Swanson/IRIN  |
| Many mothers are unaware of the risk factors |
“This is a terrible situation. My five-year-old son and two-year-old daughter have been drinking diluted powdered milk since birth. I don’t know how much damage has been done to their kidneys,” said Lutfunnessa from Dhaka.
Tough measures
On 23 October the Bangladesh High Court ordered the government to stop the sale and display of eight brands of milk powder found tainted with melamine until receipt of lab test reports from abroad.
Earlier, the BSTI cancelled the licences of two importers of melamine-tainted powdered milk.
The government has decided not to release any imported milk-powder consignments from the ports before BSTI submits its test report on whether any of the 36 samples it collected from Chittagong on 20 September were contaminated with melamine.
In addition, the Institute of Public Health and Nutrition has stopped processing the registration of certain brands with high melamine content while their local agents have been ordered to withdraw their products from the market.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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