US imports to be certified melamine free

Two top US health officials announced they will go to China next week to open
food inspection offices and talk about food safety after a series of health
scares from Chinese-made food products.

Health and Human Services (HHS)
Secretary Mike Leavitt and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr.
Andrew von Eschenbach will also open new FDA offices in Beijing, Guangzhou and
Shanghai.

The FDA said the ban widens earlier health alerts about Chinese
products. The burden will be on the importer to certify food does not contain
dairy products, or is melamine-free.

“No adverse health effects have been
reported in the United States from contamination with melamine of dairy products
or dairy-containing products,” the FDA said in a statement.

HHS said the
Leavitt and von Eschenbach visit would help to address some of these issues. “In
addition, during this trip, the Secretary and the Commissioner will open FDA’s
new offices in three cities in China,” HHS said.

The FDA offices are
meant to help start inspections of Chinese products before they are exported to
the United States.