Global dairy company Lactalis has announced in a statement that on 1 December, that the French health authorities told it that various nutrition products had made 26 infants sick due to Salmonella agona contamination. None of the 26 victims in France has died, but the risks from possible diarrhoea are a serious concern.
Following the information, Lactalis and the authorities identified one of the product drying towers as a probable source of the contamination back in May, 2017.
The cases reported were linked to infant milk products Picot SL, Pepti Junior 1 and Milumel Bio 1, which have been the subject of a withdrawal procedure since 2 December, 2017, as well as Picot Rice first age (sic).
As a precaution and following a ministerial decree, the company says it has recalled all products made since 15 February, 2017.
In agreement with the health authorities, it immediately took the decision to put a technical stop on its facilities and to initiate cleaning and maintenance and reinforce disinfection.
The French economic ministry has since published a list of 620 batches of Lactalis products that have been recalled and banned for consumption and export, which equates to almost 7,000 tonnes of goods.
However, there has been some confusion over exports as several countries initially listed as affected by the recall say they have not been informed. Lactalis has confirmed since that products in the UK are not affected and that Britain had been mistakenly added to a list of countries affected.
Countries thought to be affected include Greece, Morocco, Sudan, Peru, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.