New Zealand’s A2 Milk Co. has joined the global infant-formula recall after detecting the presence of the cereulide toxin.
The listed company is voluntarily retracting three batches of baby formula sold in the US but said the “product had been discontinued and removed from sale prior to the initiation of the recall” on 1 May.
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A2 Milk said in a stock exchange filing yesterday (4 May) that the affected formula is the A2 Platinum USA type that was sold in the US only. The product has a different formulation and “relevant ingredient” to its English label A2 Platinum formula sold in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Vietnam and through cross border channels into China.
It added that A2 Platinum USA was manufactured by the company’s partner Synlait Milk and marketed through A2 Milk’s own website, as well as on Amazon and in Meijer stores.
Synlait Milk said in a separate filing that it is working with A2 Milk to “assist” with the recall, repeating the disclaimer that the affected formula had already been discontinued from sale.
Both companies said the recall is not expected to have any impact on their respective financial results.
The presence of cereulide was first detected in baby formula manufactured by Nestlé in December and was then expanded in January to take in manufacturers such as Danone and Lactalis.
A2 Milk said it detected the toxin after “additional testing” in response to an advisory issued on 15 April from the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries.
It said the “probable source of cereulide is an ingredient” in the A2 Platinum USA formula but added “no confirmed incidents of infant illness or harm have been reported to the company”.
A2 Milk said the three recalled batches cover a total of 63,078 tins of which an estimated 16,428 have been sold.
“Food safety and quality is the company’s number one priority and the product was manufactured in compliance with all relevant standards at the time,” A2 Milk said.
“A2MC is communicating with US Food and Drug Administration with respect to the recall and has released guidance to its United States consumers about actions they should take if they have purchased the product.”
The recall follows a warning issued in April from A2 Milk over shortages of its China-label infant formula in the Asian country.
In response, the business lowered the group’s sales and profit forecasts.
Fiscal 2026 sales are expected to rise by low-to-mid double-digit rates compared to a mid-double-digit increase provided in February, when A2 Milk had raised its guidance.
Net profit after tax is likely to be “similar” or down on 2025 versus the previous forecast for a rise, while the EBITDA margin estimate was cut to 14% to 14.5% from 15.5% to 16%.
Last year’s net profit climbed 21.1% to NZ$202.9m ($119.3m) and the margin edged up 0.4 percentage point to 14.4%.
“The company is currently experiencing temporary in-market product availability issues primarily in relation to shortfalls of China label IMF [infant milk formula] product at distributors and retailers,” A2 Milk said last month.
“Strong” demand for China-label formula was one factor cited, supported by the global recalls made earlier this year by Nestlé and Danone.
