How safe is infant formula?

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Search of Asian markets

This month the FDA has dispatched investigators to look for foreign-made infant formula in small specialty stores that cater to Asian Americans. "The FDA has a national field force of inspectors. In a situation like this, we also reach out to local and state officials," Leon said. Those officials include inspectors with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and the California Department of Public Health.

In Los Angeles County, field inspectors started visiting Asian markets earlier this month. No Chinese infant formula has been found, either on the shelves or in storage, according to Jesus Urrutia, chief of the food and milk program within the health department's Environmental Health Program, who oversaw the investigation for L.A. County. The initial field survey consisted of 15 stores and in all but one of those, shopkeepers were aware of the contamination risk. Now Urrutia has added Chinese infant formula to the list of items to be checked by county environmental health inspectors, who monitor food markets, warehouses and restaurants for sanitation, food-handling procedures and the like. This will effectively expand the search countywide -- food establishments are inspected at least annually -- and keep it going over time.

San Francisco and Los Angeles, along with New York City, were at the top of the list of more than a dozen areas where the FDA urged store-by-store inspections, based on their large Asian populations. More than 1,000 stores across the nation have been canvassed so far and no Chinese-made infant formula has been found, Leon said.

Consumers who buy formula online could also potentially be at risk if they don't stick to U.S. companies.

Leon said her office has been flooded with e-mails and calls from consumers. "We had to let people know, unless it has Chinese writing on it, don't worry about it. If it's Similac [or similar products], you're fine."

In an update of its advisory about melamine contamination, the FDA also cautions against purchasing other products imported from China that may contain milk, such as candies, desserts and beverages.

Melamine has also been found in a frozen yogurt dessert and a canned coffee drink made in China, but so far found only in countries outside the U.S., according to the WHO.

The FDA's Leon advises that if it's made in China and contains dairy products, don't eat it. "That's the safest position that people can take right now. Nobody knows yet how far and wide this will go."