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A recent scandal from 2008 in China led to thousands of hospitalizations and the reported death of six young children. It appears that melamine was fraudulently added to food products such as milk as it appears to make the protein content higher than it actually was due to its high nitrogen content. Melamine is an organic compound that has a low toxicity but excessive exposure can cause kidney related problems especially in vulnerable groups such as infants where nutritionally any ion imbalance can lead ultimately lead to death.
The European Commission has said that any products from China containing milk products should be tested for melamine. Any products found to contain more than 2.5mg kg-1 of melamine must be withdrawn from the market and destroyed and these requirements came into effect October 2008.
The UK Food Standards Agency works with port health authorities and local authorities to ensure EU controls are strictly enforced. There has been a longstanding ban on the import of milk and other products of animal origin from China as controls on the food industry in China do not meet the very strict requirements set by the European Union. With the Metrohm solution, the content of melamine can be determined in less than 20 minutes once the treated sample is introduced into the IC.
Historically difficult matrices such as milk can be solved using Metrohm’s sample preparation methods like the patented dialysis techniques which automate manual sample pretreatment saving both time and money. The Metrohm method uses a Metrosep C4 column with a dilute mineral acid eluent and the minimal detectable limit was found to be 0.01mg l-1 melamine (or a method detection limit of 0.067mg kg-1).
To learn more about the low cost analysis of melamine in food products from Metrohm then please contact the IC Division on 01928 579600 or enquiry@metrohm.co.uk, where we will be delighted to provide any additional further information or arrange a viewing.
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