Safety concern about melamine dinnerware The safety concern is that melamine can migrate from the plates to foods and lead to accidental consumption.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)Trusted Source has conducted safety testing on melamine products. Examples include measuring the amount of melamine leaked into foods when the melamine was kept at high temperatures against the foods for hours at a time.
The FDA did find that acidic foods, such as orange juice or tomato-based products, tended to have higher levels of melamine migration than nonacidic ones.
Findings However, the amount of leaking melamine is considered to be very small — an estimated 250 times lower than the level of melamine the FDA considers to be toxic.
The FDA has determined that using plastic tableware, including those containing melamine, is safe to use. They have established a tolerable daily intake of 0.063 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day.
The FDA does caution people not to microwave plastic plates that aren’t specified as “microwave-safe.” Microwave-safe items are usually made from ceramic components, not melamine.
However, you can microwave something on a microwave-safe plate and then serve it on a melamine plate.
Other melamine concerns Other types of melamine contamination, separate from using tableware, have been in the news.
In 2008, Chinese authorities reported infants became ill due to exposure of melamine illegally added to milk formula. Food manufacturers were adding melamine to artificially increase the protein content in the milk.
Another incident occurred in 2007 when pet food from China, yet distributed in North America, contained high melamine levels. Sadly, this led to the deaths of more than 1,000 household pets. A recall of more than 60 million dog food products resulted.
The FDA doesn’t permit melamine as an additive for food or for use as a fertilizer or in pesticides.
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