Health officials have detected traces of melamine in samples of infant formula put on the market in the United States, an FDA spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

At the beginning of September 2008, Chinese health officials found the industrial chemical in powdered infant formula. A huge scandal emerged as almost 53,000 children became ill, over 12,800 of them were hospitalized and four died. The Food and Drug Administration insisted to assure parents that something similar will not happen in the U.S.

However, traces of the chemical have been found in samples of U.S. infant formula. Despite this, the agency claims that the products don’t pose any risk, as the levels that have been detected were “extremely low," according to Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Parents shouldn’t change their children’s diet. “If they've been feeding a particular product, they should continue to feed that product. That's in the best interest of the baby."

As expected, the International Formula Council (IFC) and its members support federal regulators’ statement, saying that "U.S. infant formula products meet the highest standards and specifications."

The agency, along with other experts, said the contamination with melamine in U.S. infant formula had happened by accident while the products were manufactured, rather than intentionally.

The same industrial chemical, usually used to make plastics, was at the heart of another recent scandal. In October, Hong Kong food inspectors have found chicken eggs imported from northeastern China and tainted with melamine.