A prosecutor in the French city of Bordeaux has reportedly said a death of a baby was not linked to an infant-formula product produced and recalled by Nestlé.
The world’s largest food maker was at the centre of the recall of baby powders due to contamination from cereulide, a toxin linked to the bacterium Bacillus cereus that can cause vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea.
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The recall went global in January as Danone and Lactalis joined the withdrawals along with some smaller manufacturers. That same month, prosecutors in France then launched investigations into the deaths of two children said to have consumed formula recalled by Nestlé.
Officials in Angers and Bordeaux opened the investigations after receiving reports the infants ate baby milk that were part of the Swiss giant’s international recall.
A judicial inquiry launched in Bordeaux has shown no link between the death of one of the unidentified babies and the consumption of Nestlé’s Guigoz brand of formula, according to Reuters.
“Based on the current state of the investigation, the infant’s death does not appear to be linked to the formula used for feeding,” the news agency cited the Bordeaux prosecutor as saying in a statement.
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By GlobalDataAn analysis of powdered and reconstituted milk under the Guigoz brand did not find any presence of cereulide, it said.
French newspaper Le Monde quoted Bordeaux public prosecutor Renaud Gaudeul as saying: “The infant’s death does not appear… to be linked to the formula milk that was used to feed them. The investigation is continuing, particularly on the forensic level, in order to determine the cause of death.”
Just Food has asked Nestlé for comment on the matter.
France’s Ministry of Health, Families, Autonomy and Persons with Disabilities confirmed the two investigations in January but said there was no evidence of a link between the formula eaten by the babies and their symptoms.
In an update in February, the same ministry said it had become aware of a third death but stuck with its previous assessment that “no causal link has been scientifically established”.
Meanwhile, the Paris prosecutor’s office launched investigations in January into Nestlé, Lactalis and Danone, along with Vitagermine-owned Babybio and La Marque en Moins, in connection with the recalls.
Confirming the investigations in February, the Paris prosecutor’s office said it was pursuing “several” probes.
It detailed the reasons in a statement: “Fraud concerning a product that poses a danger to human health; failure by a food business operator to implement a procedure for withdrawing or recalling a product harmful to health; endangering the lives of others by violating a regulatory obligation of safety or caution; and technical offenses relating to compliance with obligations incumbent upon suppliers or exporters of foodstuffs likely to be dangerous to health.”
Asked for an update on proceedings, the office told Just Food: “We have no new information to communicate concerning the ongoing procedure at the Paris prosecutor’s office.”
