Nestlé, the world’s biggest food and drink company, on Tuesday ordered the recall of liquid baby milk in four European countries after the discovery that some of its products had been contaminated by a chemical used in the packaging.
The products are not sold in the United Kingdom, the company said. But recalls had begun in Italy, Spain, France and Portugal.
Italy’s forestry guard, a police force that comes under the agriculture ministry, earlier revealed that it had been told to impound 30-million litres of the company’s milk products that had been distributed throughout the country. The Agriculture Minister, Gianni Alemanno, said: ”The problem also concerns the rest of Europe, where the packages under suspicion are produced and where confiscations have not yet been set in train”.
Nestlé said it believed the levels of the substance found so far did not represent a health hazard. The European food safety authority in Parma has been asked by the European commission to carry out tests on the chemical, but a spokesperson said the results of its inquiry would not be ready until about next April.
Spain’s health ministry on Tuesday admitted that the contamination had been caused at a factory in the town of Sevares, in the northern region of Asturias. It said the contamination had been due to a chemical used by Tetra Pak, a Swedish company, in printing on the milk containers. ”Nestlé withdrew all its units from the Spanish market in September and stopped production at its factory in Asturias,” a ministry statement said.
The type of printing used was changed before production restarted in October. The Nestlé baby milks now on sale in Spain were safe, said the Spanish health ministry. ”In any case, the potential health risk would be very low, both because of the kind of substance involved and because of the low proportions of it found in the product,” it added.
Nestlé Spain confirmed on Tuesday, however, that ”to maximise guarantees to the consumer” it had ordered the withdrawal of three types of baby milk with use-by dates previous to June or August 2006.
The chemical, ITX, or isopropyl thioxanthone, is subject to strict handling precautions. One manufacturer’s website recommends the wearing of ”chemical safety goggles, compatible chemical-resistant gloves and [a] respirator”. It says those dealing with ITX should avoid inhalation, contact with eyes, skin and clothing and prolonged or repeated exposure, and should wash thoroughly after handling it.
According to the Italian forestry service, whose responsibilities include food safety, the products being impounded were marketed under the brand names of Nidina1 and 2, Latte Mio and Mio Cereali. A spokesperson said the sequestration order, issued by a prosecutor in the east coast town of Ascoli, only affected cartons with an expiry date of September 2006, except in the case of Nidina 1, on which the expiry date was May 2006.
Nestlé said that a week ago it had begun withdrawing ”all liquid infant formula milks packed in offset printed cartons”. Nidina 1 is for babies, whereas Nidina 2 and Latte Mio are for infants of more than six months, a spokesperson said.
The problem first came to light in September. An Italian report quoted a forestry guard source as saying one of its own wardens, serving near Ascoli, had asked for tests to be carried out on a sample of Latte Mio he had been giving to his daughter.
These had revealed traces of ITX and set off the investigation that led to Tuesday’s nationwide operation. On September 8, Italy issued a notification to other EU states through the so-called Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, informing them of ITX seepage in a packet made in Spain. According to the European food safety authority, notifications of this sort are issued ”when immediate action is required”.
The forestry guard spokesperson said that on November 9 the force began impounding two million litres of milk. The latest order affecting 30-million litres applied ”not just to [milk] in warehouses and supermarkets, but also on lorries”. – Guardian Unlimited Â