Nestlé issues 'urgent' recall of popular food product over toxic contamination: 'Unsafe to consume'

Nestlé issued an infant formula product advisory after discovering a quality issue with an ingredient from its top supplier.

What's happening?

According to The Independent, the advisory affected several baby formula products sold in the United Kingdom, and officials urged parents to be on their guard. 

The Food Standards Agency found the possible presence of a toxin in select batches of SMA Advanced First Infant Milk, 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.

"The possible presence of cereulide (toxin) makes these products unsafe to consume," the FSA warned. "Do not feed it to babies. Instead, share a photo of the product and the batch code via https://www.nestle.co.uk/en-gb/getintouch or call the careline on 0800 0 81 81 80 for a refund."

Why is this important?

While food recalls seem to happen in isolation — and likely at least some of them do — they may also indicate a breakdown of safety standards and supply chain oversight. 

When this happens, things meant to nourish our bodies can become dangers to our health.

According to the nonprofit advocacy group Plastic Pollution Coalition, recalls due to plastic contamination are on the rise — and that's perhaps no surprise given the food system's heavy reliance on the material, which takes generations to break down once it enters circulation.

In addition to issuing recalls after finding pieces of plastic in food, officials have discovered metal fragments and other foreign objects in food supplies. 

As for cereulide, it can cause foodborne illness. The FSA warned that "rapid onset symptoms" include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps.

What's being done about this?

Nestlé said that it is "very uncommon" to discover cereulide in oils, which it used in the production of its potentially affected products. It is partnering with its supplier to conduct "a full root-cause analysis" to prevent a similar problem from happening again. 

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"No illnesses have been confirmed in connection with the products involved to date. Nestlé takes all consumer inquiries very seriously, and is duly investigating them," Nestlé wrote. 

The FSA is also providing support to families in the U.K.

"I want to reassure parents, guardians, and caregivers that we are taking urgent action, helping to ensure all of the affected product is removed from sale as a precaution," Jane Rawling, head of incidents, said in a statement.

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