Baseline levels of melamine in food items sold in Canada. I. Dairy products and soy-based dairy replacement products

Abstract

A variety of dairy and soy-based dairy replacement products (n = 246) purchased from Canadian retail outlets were analysed for baseline levels of melamine (MEL) using a sensitive LC-MS/MS method (method quantification limit = 4 µg/kg). MEL was infrequently detected; only 14% of the items analysed contained quantifiable levels of MEL. The concentrations observed, aside from one recalled sample of candy, ranged from 0.00435 to 0.276 mg/kg, and were at least 10 times lower than the 2.5 mg/kg interim standard for melamine in products containing milk and milk-derived ingredients established by Health Canada. The consumption of foods containing these low levels of MEL does not constitute a health risk for consumers.