MELAMINA. UN PROBLEMA POTENCIAL PARA LA SALUD ANIMAL Y HUMANA COMO ADULTERANTE EN LOS ALIMENTOS CON ÉNFASIS EN LA LECHE

Melamine is a chemical substance used in the manufacturing of plastics, which added to the milk constitutes a risk for human and animal health, if it is consumed. The presence of melamine in the milk or another food can happen in a natural way, by adulteration or metabolic transformation of the pesticide cyromazine. In the present review, the antecedents of melamine adulteration in foods are showed, the toxicological aspects and a compilation of criteria from different experts about the advantages and disadvantages of the analytic methodology for the melamine determination in foods are analyzed. CENLAC department from the National Center for Animal and Plant Health (CENSA), has implemented an analytic methodology which facilitates to detect adulteration problems and the presence of residuals and contaminants in milk allowing the evaluation of food safety.