The U.S. Food and Drug Administration assured us that trace amounts of melamine and other toxic chemicals found in infant formula tests are considered safe. Accroding to CNN, FDA officials Friday released some of the results of a nationwide testing effort undertaken in the wake of September's Chinese infant formula scandal, in which high levels of melamine found in infant formula were linked to health problems in Asia.

Dr. Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's director of food safety, said Friday the agency was confident in the 1 part per million level for either of the chemicals alone, even though there have been no new scientific studies since October that would give regulators more safety data. He had no ready explanation for why the level was not set earlier. The FDA had said in early October it was unable to set a safety contamination level for melamine in infant formula, but tests had previously found traces of melamine or cyanuric acid in infant formulas produced in the United States.

The problem of melamine in infant formula first surfaced in China in September, when melamine in formula had killed at least three babies and made at least 50,000 ill. The chemical, used in the production of plastic products, can cause kidney or bladder stones and, in severe cases, kidney failure. There have been no reports of illnesses in the United States.

Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition said Friday the trace levels of melamine or related compounds detected in the samples are 10,000-fold less than the amount associated with Chinese infant-formula contamination.

The three products that reported to have found trace levels of melamine in their infant formulas are sold by Abbott Laboratories, Nestle and Mead Johnson, which produce more than 90 percent of all infant formula made in the United States, the news service said.