Danone investigates baby milk sickness claims

Hundreds of parents in the UK have taken to social media to voice their complaints that the milk, which had its recipe changed recently, had made their children sick.

Some reported babies vomiting and suffering from diarrhoea after drinking the milk, while others said their child refused to drink it. One mother told BBC News ​the milk smelled different, “like gone-off milk that had been left out for a day”.​

Investigating the complaints​

A Danone spokesman said the company was now investigating the complaints and had set up a free helpline for parents to call for advice. However, it believed that there was nothing wrong with its infant formula.

“We would like to reassure parents that the quality and safety of our products is our number one priority,” ​said the spokesman. “We have recently introduced new Aptamil formulations and we recognise that some families have not found the transition to the new formula easy.​

“We have undertaken extensive quality and safety checks, including clinical trials, product testing and product experience tests on these products. The results have shown that babies take to this formula well and that it is safe.”​

Mixing instructions​

Danone suggested that parents should take special care to follow the mixing instructions of the new formula, which differ slightly from the previous formulation, “specifically, shaking vigorously for 10 seconds to dissolve the powder”.​

However, one mother said she tried to follow Danone’s new mixing instruction, but the milk still had gritty residue on the sides of the bottles. The extra shaking had also increased the amount of froth on the top.

Meanwhile, in January, a recall of baby milk products​​ – due to fears of contamination with salmonella – ordered by French manufacturer Lactalis reportedly included 12m boxes and spanned 83 countries.