36 children suffer ‘toxin poisoning’ symptoms after recall of baby formula
As many as 36 children have suffered symptoms consistent with toxin poisoning linked to baby formula that has been pulled from shops, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
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The UKHSA said it and partner agencies had received 24 notifications in England, seven in Scotland, three in Wales, one in Northern Ireland and one from the Crown Dependencies of children who had consumed implicated batches developing symptoms consistent with cereulide toxin poisoning.
On January 5, the Food Standards Agency confirmed that Nestle was undertaking a precautionary product recall of several batches of 12 SMA Infant Formula and Follow-On Formula products in the UK due to the possible presence of the cereulide toxin.
The recall was updated with new product expiry dates on January 9.
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On January 24, Danone - another infant formula retailer - recalled one batch of Aptamil First Infant Formula because of cereulide contamination.
On Friday, the Food Standard Standards Agency (FSA) confirmed arachidonic acid (ARA) oil, which plays an important role in infant development and is added to formula to ensure non-breastfed babies receive it, was the affected ingredient.
The latest batch to be recalled was 800g packs of SMA Advanced First Infant Milk with a best before date of December 2027 and marked 53390346AB. The FSA said it was only distributed in Northern Ireland.
In a statement, Nestle said there were no confirmed reports of any illness linked to the products but it was making the product recall "out of an abundance of caution".
Other Nestle products affected by the recall include: SMA Advanced Follow-On Milk; SMA Anti Reflux; SMA Alfamino; SMA First Infant Milk; SMA Little Steps First Infant Milk; SMA Comfort and SMA Lactose Free.
It emerged last week that the contamination that led to both recalls originated from a shared, third-party, ingredient supplier.
The FSA urged people with any affected products to stop using them, switch to an alternative and contact their GP or NHS 111 if their baby has already consumed the formula.
If formula is prescribed, parents should speak to a pharmacist or doctors before switching, the FSA said.
More detail about which batches have been recalled can be found on food.gov.uk or on the Nestle website.