Spain’s food watchdog ASEAN (Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricion) has issued several alerts in recent weeks over possible contamination of infant formula.
In its latest notice, released on Wednesday, the agency ordered the withdrawal of Babybio Caprea 1 and Babybio Optima 1, products that have also been pulled from sale in 17 other countries following a cereulide alert from French authorities.
The warning comes amid a wider international recall of infant formula from multiple brands, including Nestle, Danone, Granarolo and Lactalis, affecting more than 60 countries worldwide, 29 of them in Europe.
Investigations have traced the issue to a single Chinese supplier of a key ingredient, omega-6 ARA.
Several suspected and confirmed cases of poisoning have already been reported in Europe.
In France, five cases have been confirmed and six are under investigation, including the deaths of two infants that authorities are examining for a possible link to the contamination.
Belgium is assessing two potential cases, while in the UK there are 36 suspected intoxications.
What is cereulide?
According to Carme Bracke, a researcher at the Fundacion Lucha contra las Infecciones, cereulide is a highly stable toxin produced by the bacterium Bacillus cereus, which is commonly found in the environment.
‘It can appear not only in dairy products, but also in rice, pasta and especially foods rich in carbohydrates or sauces,’ she explained. If food is left at room temperature for too long, the bacteria can produce the toxin, which can then cause illness when consumed.
In the current cases involving infants, however, the toxin was already present in the formula. Bracke warned that cooking or reheating food can destroy the bacteria itself but does not necessarily eliminate spores or the toxin.
For this reason, food should not be left for hours at unsafe temperatures, above 5C or below 57C, to prevent bacterial growth and dangerous toxin levels.
