AN MEP has called for all British baby milk brands to be banned until the British Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (MAFF) reveals the names of the leading brands containing chemicals which could impair fertility.
The Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, said Irish mothers had every right to feel angry because Britain was putting the interests of producers before the health of children.
An Irish OP has called for all information on the so called "gender bending" chemicals to be released.
Dr Nick Breen said people needed to know where the traces of chemicals known as phthalates come from, why they were present in baby food, what companies were involved, what was being done to get rid of them and if levels were the same in all brands.
"People are left in the dark. I have a nine month old baby myself and I just don't know what to do even though I would have a little more knowledge than others about this.
"It is all very well for people in responsibility to tell us not to worry. I certainly feel no confidence in the British MAFF after the way they have handled BSE," said Dr Breen.
One possibility, according to a British expert in plastics, was that milk had been contaminated with plastic softening phthalates as it was pumped through plastic tubing in factories.
But Mr John Ensley, a scientist at Imperial College, London, whose book Good Chemical Guide contains a chapter on PVC and phthalates, said there was very little risk to babies.
"Most baby milks are packaged in tins, so I can't imagine it so much a problem with the final packaging, but what happens before that," he said.
Mr Ensley said the levels detected would have been very low.
The Consumers' Association in Britain is calling for a full inquiry into the MAFF's handling of the scare. Ms Diane McCrea, the association's head of food and health, said consumers are still very confused and worried.
Mr Neil Bowen, marketing director of Cow & Gate, one of the four main baby milk producers, told BBC Radio 4 yesterday that the formulas were perfectly safe and there was no need to be concerned. There had been no "cover up", he stressed.
Pressed on whether the nine brands which apparently had higher phthalate levels than others should be identified, Mr Bowen said. "Because nine leading brands were involved, that is equivalent to saying all the leading brands available to mothers were involved.
"There is really no point in naming individual brands, partly because they're all safe, partly because all brands were included, and partly because what we don't want to do is encourage mothers to needlessly switch from one brand to another, or from one brand to cow's milk."