Trio of dairy giants recall infant formula over contamination fears

Three of the world's largest dairy companies are recalling and blocking batches of infant milk formula due to the possible contamination of cereulide, a toxin that can cause nausea and vomiting.

The contamination scare started with Nestle and extended on Wednesday to French groups Danone and Lactalis.

Nestle recalled batches of infant nutrition products in dozens of countries earlier this month over the possible contamination with cereulide.

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A judicial inquiry in France is investigating whether there is a link between Nestle milk and the death of a baby, with the farm ministry saying the results are expected in about 10 days.

Last week, the Singapore Food Agency ordered the precautionary recall of a batch of Danone's Thai-origin Dumex Dulac 1 and Nestle's Swiss-origin NAN HA1 SupremePro after the presence of cereulide was detected.

Lactalis said on Wednesday that its nutrition unit was recalling batches of baby milk in 18 countries in response to the presence of cereulide in an ingredient sourced from a supplier.

"All infant milk producers in France and internationally are likely to have been affected by deliveries of non-compliant raw materials from the same manufacturer, which led to recalls by Nestle and Lactalis," a French farm ministry official told Reuters.

The supplier of the contaminated arachidonic acid, or ARA, is Dutch, according to a spokesperson for Lactalis, which ruled out that it was Amsterdam-listed producer dsm-firmenich that has said none of its products were affected by the Nestle recall.

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While the ARA was sold by a Dutch company, it originated from a producer in China, according to the French farm ministry official, who declined to disclose any company names.

Nestle also identified the quality concern at one of its factories in the Netherlands and suspended sourcing ARA oil from the supplier.

Reuters contributed to this report.