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Melamine in imported mineral supplement

21 February 2009

What is the issue?

An imported mineral supplement called ferric pyrophosphate, used as an iron supplement in food products, has been found to be contaminated with melamine.

Is there a risk to health?

No. At this point, there is no evidence of a food safety risk in the range of final food products that contain the ingredient. Due to significant dilution during the manufacturing process, melamine has not been detected in any final food product at this stage.

What food products is it in?

Ferric pyrophosphate may be used in minute amounts to fortify a range of milk powders, biscuits, and yoghurts. It is greatly diluted in the final product and so far no melamine has been detected in any of the products that have been tested.

How do consumers identify products with this ingredient?

The ingredient is listed on the label as ferric pyrophosphate. The ferric pyrophosphate used in various products may come from sources that do not contain melamine and are therefore in no way affected.

How much melamine is in the mineral supplement?

Tests by Fonterra showed melamine in the ferric pyrophosphate of 43 and 16 ppm. This is above the New Zealand Food Safety Authority’s risk management strategy level of 5ppm for a food ingredient. This level was established last year to give clear guidance to industry about the amounts of melamine in a food ingredient that would trigger regulatory involvement. NZFSA is working with Fonterra to verify these test results and has advised the European Union, which is investigating the source of the contamination.

What is the level of detection for testing?

The tests detect melamine to levels as low as 0.1ppm (zero point one parts per million).

How did this contamination happen?

From the information available so far it appears possible that this may have occurred as a consequence of cross contamination at a factory in Europe.

Is this going to affect New Zealand’s trade?

New Zealand has rigorous food safety standards and effective risk management processes. Our overseas trading partners can continue to have full confidence in the assurances we give about the safety of New Zealand food.

Is this related to the incident in China last year?

This is completely different in scope and scale to the Chinese melamine incident last year. Our understanding is that there has been no deliberate adulteration. The product involved is an ingredient which is used in minute amounts to fortify a final food product. Test results in final food products to date indicate that the level of dilution is such that the melamine is undetectable in the final product and there is no evidence of any risk to health.