Health2you.info

Have you read about the recent China milk scare? If you have, you probably know melamine as the contaminant found in the infant formula and other milk products from 22 Chinese dairy companies (at the time of writing).

In China alone, the contaminated baby milk caused nearly 53,000 Chinese infants to fall ill and already killed four of them since the milk scandal started. All of them suffered from acute kidney problems such as kidney stones and kidney failures.

Wait a second. Are we talking about the same melamine as the melamine in dishware / dinnerware? Yes, the same melamine found in plates and bowls, and other kitchen utensils.

As a very versatile substance with high nitrogen content, melamine combines with formaldehyde (another chemical compound) to form a fire resistant and heat tolerant thermoset plastic. Hence, melamine becomes an important ingredient in production of plastic kitchen utensils and dishware (as well as fertilizers).

So should you start worrying about melamine dishware? Well, read on before you decide.

First of all, let’s be clear that we cannot consume melamine at all. However, melamine in plates and bowls differs from mixing melamine into the food itself. You can be assured that many countries impose strict standards on the use of chemicals when producing kitchen utensils and dishware and they conduct regular checks on these products.

This includes safety measures such as ensuring minimum leaching of chemical residue into food due to heat. Once found harmful, the governmental agencies will not hesitate to ban the imports of these products. Furthermore, melamine will only melt when exposed to high heat such as oven and microwave. Hence, you’ll notice warnings on the melamine ware to remind you not to place them in ovens and microwaves. Look out for those safety labels.

Do not use melamine dinnerware for acidic foods as the acidity may corrode the surface, causing chemical residue to leach into the food.

Having said that, many scientists advise that as long as you use the melamine dishware / dinnerware properly, even if residue leach happens, the small amounts won’t affect you greatly.

As another precautionary measure, buy quality, well-known brand melamine dishware even if they cost more. You must beware of the cheap “melamine” wares available in the market which may be fake melamine or do not comply with the safety standards. Find out more about the dishware company you are buying from. It’s even better if the company can show you certain certification that it adheres to the strict regulation and standards set by the governmental health departments.

In this way, you can get some, if not 100% foolproof, assurance. Actually, melamine by itself is non-toxic in low doses as we pass them out easily in urine.

According to US Food and Drug Administrator (FDA), even if we consume melamine accidentally, as long as we do not exceed 0.63 mg of melamine per kg of bodyweight each day, we’ll still be fine.

So as an adult, if you weigh 60kg, the maximum amount of melamine your body can ingest daily is 37.8 mg. If you have a kid weighing 30 kg, his or her Tolerable Daily Intake of melamine is 18.9mg.

The problem with the China-produced infant milk is it contains too much melamine that an infant’s body can take. And if the poor infant was fed with the melamine-contaminated milk regularly, it is no wonder the infant was dying a slow death.