Ever since children started walking door-to-door collecting candy on Halloween, parents have been concerned about the safety of the sweets dropped into their bags. In years past, people might have worried about razorblades in candy apples. But this year, people will surely be more concerned about melamine. KeepOurFoodSafe.org is working to keep our readers up-to-date on this evolving situation.

Melamine is an industrial chemical that has been linked to the deaths of pets and a massive pet food recall in America in 2007, and now is involved in a massive milk powder and baby formula contamination crisis in China. To date, 53,000 children in China have been sickened by melamine and four have died this year.

As milk powder is also a common ingredient in sweets, the chemical has now been found in some candies in Europe, Southeast Asia and America. There have been no reported illnesses or deaths in this country, but the Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning to consumers to avoid White Rabbit Creamy Candies. Although this recall is in effect, there is concern that these candies are still available on store shelves. Melamine has also been found in Koala's March cookies in the United States, and the FDA has issued a recall on these as well. The FDA has also issued a warning to consumers against consuming a variety of Chinese products, including YILI, Blue Cat and Mr. Brown drinks, and, of course, any Chinese produced baby formulas. There are no Chinese-made baby formulas approved for sale in America, but officials worry they could find their way onto some store shelves anyway. Melamine has also been found in an edible chocolate spread sold in sex shops in England, in Cadbury chocolates in China for export to Australia and Taiwan, and in milk, yogurt and other milk products in Italy. So a fair amount of prudence is a good idea at this point.

How did this happen? Well, it should be stated that melamine should never be put in food. But the innocuous-looking powder has been added to food ingredients—like milk power this year and in pet food ingredients in the past —to make an ingredient test higher in protein levels than it actually is.

While any melamine in food should be avoided, if you are unlucky enough to ingest a little bit of it, you should be okay. The FDA states “In food products other than infant formula, the FDA concludes that levels of melamine and melamine-related compounds below 2.5 parts per million do not raise concerns.” Tests have shown that small amounts of melamine can be excreted by animals, including livestock, and presumably people. If an animal or person consumes a great deal of melamine -- which was the case in the pet food recall where the pets’ diets had little or no variety or in the current baby formula crisis where babies were fed little other than the contaminated formula -- it can cause renal problems, sometimes leading to death. In last year’s pet food crisis, melamine combined with another contaminant, cyanuric acid, resulting in the formation of crystals in the kidneys. The deaths and illnesses associated with this year’s milk powder recall are still under investigation.

The problem with Chinese dairy products seems pretty widespread. Traces of melamine have been found in formula produced by 21 Chinese dairies and dairy products produced by 15 additional companies. The FDA estimates that it inspects less than 1 percent of all food products imported into the United States, and that doesn’t take into account smuggling. While small doses of melamine are not believed to be deadly, the long-term impacts of ingesting the chemical have really never been studied.

Why isn’t more known? Because nobody could have predicted that people would end up eating melamine. Before last year’s pet food recall, nobody even thought to test for melamine in foods, because it’s not supposed to be there. As a result, KeepYourFoodSafe.org advises a modest dose of level-headed prudence this Halloween … but there’s no need to be terrified.