But I never suspected baby food industry. Who in their right mind would do some thing to harm babies? Especially since these products are consumed by kids of these manufacturers too. And I did not find any proof to contradict this belief so far. But, recently CDC (Center For Disease Control) has disclosed that they have found traces of rocket fuel in baby formula! Can any one believe it? Rocket fuel chemicals in baby formula!

On second thought, this should have been expected. Since the US has the biggest arsenal of arms on the planet, we are bound to test and use them much more than the rest of the world. Naturally residue of the chemicals used in bombs, rockets etc are bound to contaminate the drinking water sources and eventually reach even baby formula. The large number of air planes flying around the country are also bound to leave behind a huge amount of pollutants behind.

The chemical which was found in the powdered baby formula is “perchlorate”. This chemical can occur naturally in certain cases. But in most cases, the contamination is coming from defense installations and activities related to NASA. The amount of the chemical found by itself is within limits of consumption for adults. But when this is mixed with contaminated water, the level of contamination will become beyond safe limits. And the limits are set for adults. So this must be really high for infants! The water in many parts of the US is contaminated with perchlorate and some of these are above safe limits already!

These findings were released by the scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who looked for the chemical, perchlorate, in different brands of powdered baby formula.

Perchlorate is considered to be a reason for thyroid problems. But there are no studies which ties this chemical directly to the condition. As thyroid hormones are responsible for human metabolism, this may adversely affect the baby’s over all growth and intellect.

Iodine is known to counteract the effects of perchlorate to some extent. Hence, government has made it mandatory for baby formulas to have iodine in them. This can prevent the adverse effects of this chemical to some extent.

In the same study, cow’s milk has the highest amount of perchlorate in it. So, we have to drink our milk also at our own risk!

Due to the havoc it can create in the baby food market, authorities are still vouching for the safety of baby formula. As there are no conclusive studies to prove the adverse effects of perchlorate, we have to keep our arms crossed and wait in the hope that the CDC is correct in their assessment.

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Recent developments in cases like those involved Peanut Corp of America and Chinese pet food items have highlighted the problems arising when even a single player in these long chain of events do not stick to food safety standards. And there are questions about the quality of poultry products exported from China. China has recently approached the World Trade Organization about this US attempts to ban Chinese poultry products. Even when Americans are trying to block the Chinese food items for lack of safety standards, there are no clear guidelines on American food standards. Food products manufactured in US are not totally clear of adulteration and similar problems. Nicholas D Kristof of New York Times has recently brought to light some of the problems associated with American Hog industry.

The recent investigations in to the cause of problems related to tainted peanuts which was the reason for the recall of a vast number of salmonella tainted products manufactured by Kellogg Co, King Nut Corp and Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets Inc have brought light to some astounding facts. Peanut Corp of America and AIB, the third party auditors who were in charge of auditing them, were conspiring together to gain perfect scores. Unlike these companies, Nestle conducted an auditing on its own and found out that the premises of Peanut Corp of America were not sanitary enough and hence refused to use their products.

Thus, we can see instances where the industry safeguards are working perfectly for the general public’s health and then there are instances where the companies and auditors are acting in tandem to circumvent the auditing process. Now we can ask for the formation of a governmental agency to do the auditing. But how can we be sure that they won’t act like the auditors and help the companies out? There are no easy solutions for this problem. Honesty of people who are in charge of the companies, auditors, government agencies etc only can prevent the risk of food born problems to our health.

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