FDA to issue regulation on level of melamine

FDA secretary general Dr Pipat Yingseri yesterday said the agency is now drafting a new regulation to control the limit of melamine contami?nation in food products, which must not exceed 2.5 milligrams per kilo?gram. The regulation is expected to be announced within next week.

" We want manufacturers to take responsibility and make sure that their products are safe for human consumption," he said.

Previously, the FDA has issued regulations allowing melamine substance in milk products of not over 1 milligram per kilogram and 2.5 milligrams per kilogram of milkbased food and beverages.

Pipat said manufacturers and dealers who import powdered milk, milk and milkbased products from China must show laboratory test results, certified by a government agency or an accredited agency at the checkpoint. All imported products from China must be confiscated if the product is tainted.

Those who violate the law will face a fine of Bt5,000 to Bt20,000 and imprisonment of six months to two years if convicted of selling tainted products, he added.

Pipat said that nearly all of some 800 food samples submitted to the Medical Science Department were found to have no melamine contamination, except S&P's almond cookies that had only 0.75 milligrams per kilogram of melamine. This did not exceed the allowed standard of 2.5 milligrams per kilogram, he added.

However, he said according to the Procedural Act for Consumer Protection Cases, consumers who are affected by severe symptoms from drinking melaminetainted products could file a law suit against the company and seek compensation.

Saree Ongsomwang of the Foundation for Consumers said it could provide legal assistance and consultation to those who wanted to sue but consumers had to make sure that the products they took were from the same lots that were tainted.