Spain health: five babies hospitalised following Nestlé formula intoxication
Health authorities track 36 cases in the UK and dozens more across Europe as the manufacturer recalls specific batches of infant milk found to contain bacterial toxins
Five babies have required hospitalisation for vomiting in Spain after consuming the same Nestlé baby formula that contained a toxin produced by bacteria. Three others have been treated for the same symptoms, albeit mild.
The Spanish health authorities has communicated the incidents to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The Ministry of Health has not considered it necessary to issue a warning to the general public, although the Ministry of Consumer Affairs had already issued a "warning" about the "possible presence of 'Bacillus cereus' in powdered milk for infants" a week before.
Nestlé has already voluntarily withdrawn the Nidina baby formula, which contained the toxin. The company informed authorities of the positive analysis and said that only one batch had to be withdrawn (52900346AB, to be consumed before October 2027).
The ECDC report says that there were eight cases of vomitting possibly after consumption of the product in question in Spain, five of which required hospitalisation. "None of the suspected cases have been confirmed in a laboratory," the report says. As faecal samples of this toxin are not common in Spain, the EU body could not "establish a causal relationship between the clinical picture and the consumption" of the product.
Similar cases have been reported in Belgium (five babies), Denmark (unspecified), France (eleven) and the UK (36). Only Belgium conducted a study to determine the relationship between the intake of baby formula and its side effects. All samples were positive.
Symptoms and consumption
The symptoms of cereulide (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain) appear suddenly, sometimes half an hour after consumption, but can also occur up to six hours later. In this case, the contaminated ingredient was arachidonic acid oil, an omega-6 supplement. The risk for the youngest children is dehydration. There have been no serious cases, according to European authorities.
The European Commission has asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to conduct a study to determine at what point cereulide becomes dangerous for babies. In theory, the presence of the toxin may be due to the bacteria surviving the heat treatments used during the manufacture of powdered infant formula, the use of contaminated ingredients of either animal or plant origin or contamination occurring on the production or packaging line at the factory.
The household recommendation to combat these toxins is to use water at a temperature above 70C when dissolving the product. To avoid acute exposure and not exceed safe consumption levels, the concentration of cereulide could not be higher than 0,054 μg/L in infant formula and 0,1 μg/L for follow-on formula.
