Nestlé Infant Milks: A Health Investigation Opened after the Death of a Baby

DEATH: French health authorities said Tuesday that investigations are underway after the death of a baby who consumed Nestlé infant milk

French health authorities said Tuesday that investigations were underway after the death of a baby who consumed milk infant produced by Nestlé. The product is affected by a vast recall campaign, without it being possible at this stage to establish a direct link at this stage.

“To date, only one report, that is to say a serious situation which requires epidemiological investigations, […] has been reported to the General Directorate of Health and concerns the death of an infant”, the Health Crisis Center, a service dependent on the Ministry of Health, told AFP, confirming information from Radio France and West France. “The epidemiological and food investigation is still ongoing”, added this source, who specifies that “the attributability of this death with the consumption of the incriminated product in the reminder not established at this stage.

Digestive disorders and complications

Nestlé, a Swiss agri-food giant, has for several weeks initiated a vast recall of infant milks from the Guigoz and Nidal brands due to the potential presence of a bacteria, Bacillus cereus, likely to cause digestive disorders, such as diarrhea and vomiting, with sometimes serious complications. The recall now concerns around sixty countries, including France, and the boss of Nestlé, Philipp Navratil apologized in mid-January while the group is accused by certain NGOs of having delayed taking measures. “I would like to reassure you that no cases of illness linked to the affected products have been confirmed so far”, he stressed, insisting that the recall was a “precautionary” measure.

The ministry of Health emphasizes that after the recall, poison control centers and regional health agencies were contacted by parents. Families also testified in media: On Radio France, a mother says she had to take her two-month-old baby to the emergency room in December due to “fever” and “vomiting”. Hospitalized for several days, he then returned to the family home but his digestive problems persisted, until his mother realized at the beginning of January that “three” of his milk cans were affected by the recall.

The Ministry of Health recalls that “the people who purchased the recalled batches, listed on the RappelConso website, are asked to no longer consume them […] and to contact consumer service on 0800100409. Asked by AFP, Nestlé France indicated on Tuesday that it was not aware of any proven cases of illness or death linked to the consumption of their infant milk.