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Getting Rid of Melamine: Farm to Factory to Fork - Guest Blog Phyllis Entis - Part 3

By Bill Marler, Esq.

pimg width="75" vspace="5" hspace="5" height="109" align="left" src="http://www.marlerblog.com/uploads/image/pi(2).jpg" alt="" /While consumers can take certain steps to reduce melamine migration in their own kitchens, most incidental ndash; as opposed to deliberate ndash; addition of melamine to food probably takes place on the farm, in processing plants, and in food service kitchens./p pDown On the Farm/p pCyromazine is an EPA-approved pesticide, used to control insect populations on field crops destined both for human food and for animal feed. EPA has established residue limits for cyromazine in a variety of fruits, legumes and vegetables, including corn, lettuce, beans, mangoes and tomatoes./p pThe limits range from a low of 0.2 ppm in dried onion bulbs to as much as 10 ppm in cabbages and turnip greens for human consumption. Radish (roots or greens) and corn destined for animal feed must have no more than 0.5 ppm cyromazine./p pWhy should we care about cyromazine? Because plants and animals metabolize cyromazine ndash; producing melamine as a result./p pThis metabolic process is well known to EPA and to the international regulatory community. Until recently, however, the possible accumulation of small amounts of melamine in plant or animal tissue was treated as insignificant./p pThe use of cyromazine ndash; and other chemically related pesticides ndash; on crops is not the only way in which melamine can enter our food supply on an industrial scale./p pSanitizer Insanity/p pIt is an axiom of good food handling practice in processing plants and food service kitchens. Every surface, utensil, dish, cup, or pair of gloved hands that comes into direct contact with food must be sanitized periodically to avoid transferring bacteria or viruses onto the food./p pThis is a sound principle. Unfortunately, one of the sanitizers approved by EPA for food contact surfaces is the melamine derivative, trichloromelamine (TCM). When dissolved in water, TCM breaks down to release chlorine ndash; an effective sanitizing agent ndash; and melamine./p pAccording to Hamp;S Chemical Company, TCM is used in a number of different applications, including:/p p- quot;third sinkquot; sanitizer in bars and restaurantsbr / - hard surface disinfectant in food service areasbr / - sanitizer/disinfectant in the brewing industrybr / - by the US Army as a disinfectant for fruit and vegetable wash/p pOther quot;advantagesquot; of TCM touted by Leedah, Inc., an Atlanta-based importer and distributor of chemicals, are:/p p- no need to rinse offbr / - safe for use in child care centersbr / - direct and indirect food-contact sanitizerbr / - non-toxic and biodegradable/p pJohnsonDiversey, offers TCM in pre-packaged pouches for the food service industry. BeerCleanreg; sanitizer pouches are marketed for use as a final glassware rinse in bars. Sani-Surereg; pouches are promoted as a quot;last tankquot; sanitizing rinse for dish ware and utensils./p pThe Bottom Line/p pUntil the lethal twin melamine poisoning incidents of 2007 (pet food) and 2008 (adulterated milk), toxicology experts around the world considered melamine to be of minimal health concern. That attitude, clearly, is changing. And so must our tolerance of melamine traces on our tableware, on our utensils, and on food contact surfaces ndash; and in our food!/p pa href="http://efoodalert.blogspot.com/"To learn more about the recent melamine adulteration incident, as well as other food safety issues, please visit eFoodAlert./a/p pPhyllis is the author of quot;Food Safety: Old Habits, New Perspectivesquot; and quot;Food Microbiology - The Laboratoryquot;. She has been a food safety microbiologist for 35 years, and has worked both in government and industry./pimg src="http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/MarlerBlog/~4/491324057" height="1" width="1"/

Full post as published by Marler Blog on December 21, 2008 (boomark / email).