Milk Testing Procedures in U.S. Would Find Melamine

By Ron Johnson Dairy Editor
Thursday, October 23, 2008 7:41 AM CDT

There’s no need to worry about melamine contaminating milk produced on U.S. dairy farms. That’s according to a report issued by the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF).

“American dairy products are among the safest in the world,” says the NMPF, an organization that represents dairy cooperatives on national issues. “U.S.-produced milk and dairy foods go through extensive and rigorous safety and quality tests before they reach the grocery store.”

What’s more, dairy farms and milk processing facilities are bound by “strict” federal and state regulations, notes the NMPF. Those rules are established by state regulators, the Food and Drug Administration and the USDA.

The results of those layers of regulations let the NMPF declare, “Melamine has never been discovered in the U.S. milk supply or in dairy products manufactured in the U.S. Quality and safety are top priorities of U.S. dairy product suppliers. State-of-the-art technology, stringent regulatory standards and years of collaboration with our customers has made the United States a trusted dairy ingredients supplier to both domestic and global buyers.”

Milk safety starts on dairy farms. Individual states inspect the farms twice a year.

On top of that, cheese factories, milk bottlers and other processing facilities are routinely inspected by the USDA and the FDA. Milk processors are charged with following “good management practices” (GMPs) and the requirements of the Pure Milk Ordinance, or PMO, notes the NMPF.

The Pure Milk Ordinance addresses such things as milk production, hauling, pasteurization, dairy product safety, equipment sanitation and labeling. Its rules apply all the way from milk’s production through its processing.

Detection

In the U.S., as in China, placing melamine in milk is considered adulteration, and it’s against the law. But unlike China, the U.S. has a more-sophisticated system of testing milk for foreign substances.

The system’s foundation lies in the regular dairy farm inspections, says the NMPF. Milk inspectors are trained to look for illegal activities, as well as spotting cleanliness problems.

In addition, U.S. dairy farms are visited by field representatives of the co-op or proprietary plant that the farm ships its milk to. While these field staff work with dairy farmers on such things as producing quality milk and improving animal health, they are also more sets of eyes that might notice illegal activity, such as adulterating milk.

In the melamine adulteration cases in China, water was added to the milk, to increase its volume. After the milk was thinned with water, melamine n a source of nitrogen n was also added.

That was done to “fool” the milk tests. The amount of protein in the milk appeared to fall within a normal range, so milk watering was not suspected.

Adding water and then melamine to milk in the U.S would not go unnoticed, assures the NMPF.

“The daily volume of milk from a farm is generally consistent, so a sudden increase in volume would be detected and seen as an anomaly unless a significant number of cows were added. This would be investigated to see why it is occurring,” the report points out.

In addition, U.S. labs do not depend solely on a test for milk’s nitrogen content or its protein content. Milk samples here are also checked for the amount of butterfat in them. They’re examined to see whether they freeze at the proper temperature.

“Added water would be detected through (these) other tests that melamine would not ‘fool,’” the NMPF says.

Anything suspicious would be detected in processing plants, too. The NMPF says, “Manufacturers of finished products like cheese, yogurt and milk proteins would see an inconsistency in yields versus volume of milk if water were added and would investigate (to find) why the inconsistency was occurring.”

Precautions added

The FDA recently issued an advisory regarding melamine in milk. The advisory is intended to “reassure the American public that there is no known threat of contamination in infant formula manufactured by companies that have met the requirements to sell such products in the United States.”

No baby formula originating in China has been found in the U.S. Nevertheless, the FDA says it is taking extra steps to keep contaminated milk products out of the U.S. food supply.

First, the FDA says it has contacted companies that produce baby formula to sell in the U.S. Those companies reportedly told the FDA that they are not, baby formula or the ingredients to make formula, from China.

Second, the FDA is testing milk and ingredients derived from milk, along with finished products. The agency is testing such products as whey powder, casein, whole-milk powder, lactose powder, and nonfat milk powder.

This testing takes place when the ingredients or products containing them are imported to the U.S. The tests are also being conducted in markets in Asia.

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