Nestlé's infant-formula business is facing more difficulties, with Brazil recalling a brand of baby powder over levels of iodine and selenium.
Anvisa, Brazil’s health regulator, said yesterday (12 February) it found the quantities of the two nutrients in certain batches of Nestlé’s Alfamino formula exceeded “permitted limits”.
Consequently, it has ordered the recall of ten batches of the milk powders, saying in a statement it “mandates the suspension of the sale, distribution, import [and] advertising” of the Alfamino products concerned.
Nestlé insisted via a spokesperson that "all our products strictly meet all regulatory standards and are safe for consumption", noting an error in the Brazilian regulator's calculations of the content of selenium and iodine.
Explaining the rationale with respect to the iodine and selenium levels identified, Anvisa added “the limits between an adequate amount and a potentially toxic dose are narrow for infants and young children, so excessive consumption can pose risks”.
The symptoms of consuming too much iodine include poor weight gain and dysfunction of the thyroid gland, or hypothyroidism, Anvisa suggested.
Meanwhile, excessive amounts of selenium can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Those same symptoms from an overdose of selenium have been cited for the cereulide toxin, which is at the centre of an infant-formula recall first sparked in Europe by Nestlé in December.
The withdrawal then went global in January, with the likes of French dairy giants Lactalis and Danone joining the recall, which is still ongoing.
Prosecutors in France launched investigations last month into the deaths of two children said to have consumed formula recalled by Nestlé.
More than 20 families in France are also taking the government to court over its handling of the recall.
In an update this week, France’s Ministry of Health, Families, Autonomy and Persons with Disabilities, through its Health Crisis Centre, said it is now aware of three deaths but stuck with a previous assessment that “no causal link has been scientifically established” with the recalled formulas.
Nonetheless, it added that regional health agencies have been notified of around 50 cases linked to the cereulide toxin, including 14 hospitalisations.
In Brazil, Anvisa did not identify a level for which iodine and selenium consumption can become dangerous but quantified its findings. The regulator said it identified iodine of 175.7 micrograms per 100 kcal in the tested Alfamino formula and 31.1mcg per 100 kcal for selenium.
The Nestlé spokesperson said in a statement sent to Just Food.
"The situation in Brazil is related to a conversion error in the unit of measurement (mcg/kg instead of mcg/100g) in a product evaluation report submitted to the authorities.
"It mistakenly states that selenium is 31.1 micrograms per 100 kcal and Iodine is 175.7 micrograms per 100 kcal, whereas the correct values are 3.11 micrograms of selenium and 17.57 micrograms of iodine per 100 kcal, which comply with regulations."
Earlier this month, authorities in Europe lowered the acceptable threshold for cereulide. Following a “rapid risk assessment” after a request from the European Commission, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) set a ceiling of 0.014 micrograms per kg of body mass.
Nestlé has reportedly ramped up production of infant formula in France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands to compensate for the cereulide-linked recalls and to head-off any shortages, according to Bloomberg.
The company did not comment on the European production increase in its response to Just Food regarding the Brazil recall.
