The global recall of Lactalis formula has now reached 83 countries. Nobody could have imagined such a massive impact.. nobody at the French government at least, considering how long it took them to take a decision on the global recall.
Representatives from IBFAN were interviewed by BBC to comment on an scandal that is not so surprising to whoever is familiar with the work of baby food manufacturers and distributors. Indeed, it’s not the first time contaminants are found in baby formula and not the first time that the news on the accident keep a very low profile so that the company can save its image and its sales.
See Baby Milk Action press release here (for the French translation, click here), including the excerpts of the interviews to Patti Rundall and Alison Linnecar with BBC. The January 2018 update is available here.
It took almost ten days for the Government of France to react in December 2017 to the scandal of widespread contamination of powdered formula milks produced by the giant French dairy producer Lactalis. [1] 25 infants in France have become sick after being fed formulas contaminated by the dangerous bacteria Salmonella.[2]
- [1] The Lactalis Group, headquartered in Craon, Mayenne, France, is a dairy corporation owned by the Besnier Family. It is the one of the largest dairy products groups in the world with an annual turnover of EUR 17 billion (2016) exporting globally. Lactalis-owned brands are systematic Code violators.
- [2] The Salmonella Agona bacteria can cause gastro-enteritis, septicaemia and even meningitis. It can multiply outside the gut and lodge in joints and thus cause secondary infections in articulations. Lactalis says it does self-monitoring and inspection of all batches. The French Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Repression of Fraud claims to make ‘regular checks’
Watch French TV Program Cash Investigation‘s documentary on Lactalis, of 16 January 2018 (in French) https://www.francetvinfo.fr/sante/alimentation/lait-infantile-contamine/lactalis-refuse-de-publier-ses-comptes_2565097.html
For more information contact:
- Alison Linnecar, IBFAN global working group on chemical and microbiological contamination of infant feeding products + 33 450 56 40 80, for text messages: + 33 622 18 72 88 https://www.gifa.org/en/international-2/contaminants2/
h - Dr. J P Dadhich MD (Paediatrics); FNNF; PG-DDN Director – Technical, BPNI, IBFAN Global Council; Sub-regional Representative – IBFAN South Asia, +91-11-27312705; +91-11-27312706 jpdadhich@bpni.org www.bpni.org
- Patti Rundall, Policy Director, Baby Milk Action IBFAN UK +44 7786 523493 prundall@babymilkaction.org www.babymilkaction.org
For IBFAN website with more information on contaminants
- IYCF, health and environment https://www.ibfan.org/infant-and-young-child-feeding-health-and-environmental-impacts-2/
- http://ibfan.org/contaminants-in-baby-foods
- Contamination with Clostridia https://www.ibfan.org/how-widespread/
For more information, see GIFA website section
- Contaminants and residues in Baby milk and formula