Lactalis recalls baby milk from Spanish site linked to salmonella
25/01/2019 16:14
PARIS, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Dairy group Lactalis said on
Friday it was recalling one of its infant formula brands as a
precautionary move as the product was supplied by the same
Spanish factory linked to several salmonella cases among babies
in France.
The company said its LNS unit was withdrawing 16,300 tins of
"Picot AR" infant formula sold in French pharmacies since Nov.
29, following a wider recall issued by fellow French firm
Savencia's SAVEN.PA Sodilac division. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1ZO6QJ
"We are applying a principle of maximum precaution and
underline that no health alert has been issued regarding Picot
AR and that all product tests have been normal," Lactalis said
in a statement.
Other products from the Picot range were not supplied by the
same factory and so were not affected by the recall, it said.
Sodilac has recalled all products under its Modilac brand
after the French health authorities linked the contamination of
four babies with salmonella with the consumption of Modilac
formula supplied by a factory in Spain.
In an update, France's public health agency said a total of
seven cases of the 'salmonella poona' virus in babies between
late August and Jan. 10 were now suspected of being due to
consumption of Modilac product from the Spanish site.
Four of the babies had been treated in hospital but all were
later discharged, it said.
The alert comes a year after a massive recall of infant
formula by Lactalis, the world's largest dairy group, after
dozens of babies contracted salmonella.
The alert, linked to a factory in northwest France, drew
criticism about a lack of transparency at Lactalis and led the
company to close permanently one of its production lines.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1Y54TC
The disruption to its infant formula production in France
led it to start using the Spanish factory for its Picot AR
brand, a spokesman said.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz, editing by Louise Heavens)
((gus.trompiz@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 52 18; Reuters
Messaging: gus.trompiz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))