Khaberni - On Friday, French authorities sought to reassure consumers that all batches of suspected contaminated infant milk have been withdrawn from circulation, coinciding with an investigation to uncover the circumstances behind the deaths of two infants.
The infant formula industry has been in crisis for weeks following several companies’ recalls of products potentially contaminated with toxic cerulide, which can cause diarrhea and vomiting.
On Friday, the French Health Minister, Stéphanie Riester, said that the milk suspected to be contaminated has been "withdrawn" from the markets.
Nestlé especially withdrew batches of infant milk in European countries on January 6th.
French investigators are looking into the circumstances of the deaths of two infants believed to have consumed milk prepared from a formula produced by "Nestlé".
The first infant, who was two weeks old, died on January 8th in Bordeaux, southwestern France, after being fed milk from the batches that were later withdrawn, according to the city’s prosecutor.
The second infant, who was 27 days old, died on December 23rd in Angers (west), according to the local public prosecutor's office. This week, his mother reported to authorities that the child had consumed Nestlé milk from one of the batches that were withdrawn from the market.
According to the French authorities, there is currently no proven link between the milk and the deaths of the two infants.
Nestlé confirmed to Agence France-Presse on Friday that they would cooperate with the investigations, pointing out there were "no evidence" linking their products to the deaths of the two infants.
The withdrawal of products is not limited to Nestlé alone.
On Friday, the French company Danone announced that it would begin "“withdrawing a very limited number of specific batches of infant milk from certain markets," in compliance with the latest guidelines from local food safety authorities.
A source familiar with the matter stated that this step came after amendments made by the relevant authorities, especially in Ireland.
This follows after Singapore withdrew "Dumex" infant formula on Saturday, a brand owned by the giant Danone group.
The French group Lactalis announced on Wednesday that it was about to withdraw batches in France and other countries due to concerns that they may contain cerulide.
Outside of France, the list of concerned countries includes Australia, Chile, China, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Spain, Madagascar, Mexico, Uzbekistan, Peru, Georgia, Greece, Kuwait, the Czech Republic, and Taiwan, according to a spokesperson for Lactalis.
