While babies continue to die and be hospitalized by tainted formula in Asia, the Food and Drug Administration says formula in the U.S. does not contain the dangerous chemical found in the Chinese product.
At least three babies have died in China from acute kidney failure and more than 6,200 others have fallen ill while at least 158 are in critical condition after consuming baby formula that contained the dangerous chemical melamine.
At least 22 dairy producers that exported to many parts of the world are involved in a quickly widening corruption scandal involving the Chinese government that exempted at least some of those manufacturers from any testing, according to The Washington Post.
Melamine is used to make chemicals and fertilizer, but has sometimes been used to boost the apparent protein levels when illegally combined with food. That combination was proven deadly last year when thousands of pets, many in the U.S., died because Chinese companies that exported pet food components to the U.S. mixed it into their recipes.
Chinese parents told The New York Times they are outraged manufacturers would not only use a chemical that is illegal when combined with food, but that they would use it only a year after the same unscrupulous practice killed dogs and cats.
Although the companies distributed their products to many parts of the world, especially in Asia, an FDA spokeswoman assured ConsumerAffairs.com baby formula in the U.S. is safe.
"All makers of infant formula that can be legally marketed in the United States have confirmed that they do not use milk products from China in the manufacture of their products," Stephanie Kwisnek wrote in an e-mail.
