Agriculture Secretary: Melamine in Human Food Is OK

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said that animals that ate melamine tainted feed are safe for human consumption.

Consumers face little risk from eating pork, chicken and eggs from farm animals that ate feed mixed with pet food scraps contaminated by an industrial chemical, government scientists said Monday.

Mixing in material contaminated at low levels diluted it such that humans who eat the animals won’t be harmed, the scientists said.

“We literally found that the dilution is so minute, in fact in some cases you can’t even test and find melamine any more in that product,” Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said in Chicago, speaking to the Organic Trade Association.

Can we believe what they are saying? Do they have enough scientific data on melamine in humans to make this declaration definitively? The situation with the pet food recall has put a spotlight on extreme deficiencies within the Food and Drug Administration. Will corporate lobbying keep reforms from being enacted? It will take an outcry from the American public to thwart efforts by corporate lobbyists to keep the status quo.