The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has defended its decision to allow Nestlé to make a voluntary recall of SMA infant formula rather than ordering its removal from shops.
Nestlé is recalling 18 batches of the SMA infant formula and follow-on formula products due to the possible presence of the toxin cereulide.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said cereulide was a toxin produced by bacteria that could cause nausea and severe vomiting.
While no cases of illness have yet been reported, the FSAI said parents, guardians and caregivers should check if they had any recalled products at home and should not feed them to children.
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The affected products include 800g packs of SMA’s powdered First Infant Milk, Advanced First Infant Milk, Advanced Follow-on Milk, Comfort, Gold Prem 2 and Little Steps.
Some 200ml bottles of prepared First Infant Milk formula and 400g packs of Alfamino are also recalled.
Expiry dates on the affected products range from October 2026 to November 2027. Details of all products and batch codes are on the FSAI website.
The FSAI’s director of audit, incidents and investigations, Dr Michelle Minihan, told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland that an enforcement issue had not been issued because the products were manufactured in other European countries.
“The competent authorities such as ourselves in those other European countries are overseeing that recall, we have been in communication with our colleagues across the EU to understand the nature and extent of the issue that’s going on with these particular infant formulas,” she said.
“And we will ensure and follow up with those competent authorities in those countries where it is manufactured to make sure corrective actions are taken in the plants.”
Dr Minihan said the advice to parents and caregivers was to check whether they had the affected products, to stop feeding them to their children and to seek medical advice if the child was displaying symptoms.
“The toxin is particularly heat resistant, that means if you prepare the infant formula as per the instructions it won’t be killed satisfactorily and it can cause illness in infants and young children such as nausea and vomiting.
“Immediately stop feeding it to your infant or young child and if they’re not displaying any symptoms of illness, then you don’t need to take any further action. However, if they are displaying symptoms of an illness you should seek the advice of a medical professional or a healthcare professional.
“We will ensure and follow up with those competent authorities in those countries where it is manufactured to make sure corrective actions are taken in the plants.“
“Customers of Nestlé who have this product on their shelves were contacted yesterday to remove affected batches. That has happened. We will be verifying that today. So what’s on the shelves are unaffected products.”
A spokeswoman for the FSAI said all food businesses were legally obliged to withdraw from sale and recall from consumers any food that is not safe to eat.
“Where a food business refuses to remove unsafe food from the market, the FSAI takes enforcement action necessary to protect public health,” she said.
“This could include serving a legal order. In the current SMA recall, Nestlé is recalling the implicated batches and the FSAI is verifying this through inspections.”
