Mead Johnson Says There's No Melamine In Enfamil Lipil

The manufacturer of Enfamil Lipil says reports that the popular baby formula contains melamine are incorrect. Mead Johnson Nutritionals released a statement on the recent concerns over melamine in baby formula, saying that the Associated Press (AP) requested the melamine testing data from FDA and was given a preliminary report. However, Mead Johnson says "the data reported from the preliminary report were not correct." The manufacturer says their own tests, performed by a third party, as well as FDA's most recent tests, have shown that none of Mead Johnson's baby formulas, including Enfamil Lipil, contain melamine, even in trace amounts.

The statement addresses trace amounts of cyanuric acid that were found in Enfamil baby formulas in the FDA tests. Mead Johnson is unable to duplicate those test results, according to the statement. However, the company says FDA "confirmed that their reported levels of cyanuric acid are so low that they do not pose a health risk to infants." Cyanuric acid is used to sanitize some equipment used in manufacturing baby formula, so it is possible for residues from the cleaning products to be found in formula.

The manufacturer notes that cyanuric acid is also found in chemically purified drinking water, and safe drinking water, according to World Health Organization guidelines, can contain about 80 times more cyanuric acid than what was found in baby formulas in FDA's recent tests. Mead Johnson says "due to the extremely large margin of safety and the recognized positive public health benefit for use of cyanuric acid salts, there is no reason to question the safety of a trace amount of cyanuric acid found in foods or formula products."

• Mead Johnson Says There's No Melamine in Enfamil Lipil
• FDA Says Trace Amounts of Melamine Found in Baby Formula (Initial Reports)