Nestle recalls contaminated baby formula in four European countries
The decision follows of a series of tests by health officials in Italy's Marche region which determined that the formula contains ITX - an agent used in the labeling of the formula box containers.
23/11/05 Swiss food maker Nestle said it had recalled baby formula thought to be contaminated with an ink used in labeling cartons from stores in four European countries, but said there was no risk to health.
Italy's Ministry of Agriculture said it had begun seizing 7.8 million gallons (30 million liters) of the baby formula after a judge in the city of Ascoli ruled that it was contaminated.
A Nestle spokesman later said the product had also been recalled in France, Spain and Portugal. He said only half a million gallons (2 million liters) had been recalled in Italy and that the volumes recalled in other countries would be significantly less.
The decision follows of a series of tests by health officials in Italy's Marche region which determined that the formula contains ITX - an agent used in the labeling of the formula box containers. The country's Ministry of Agriculture noted it has not been proven that the compound is toxic.
Nestle said the box containers were manufactured in Holland and the boxes were filled in Spain before being shipped to Italy.
More than 520,000 gallons of some types of the Nestle formula were recalled on November 9.
Further tests indicated that formula in all packages with the sell-by date of September 2006 contained ITX and had to be removed from the market, Italian officials said. The milk has been recalled from supermarkets, pharmacies, shops and storage locations.
Nestle said it has already replaced the containers in question and that all formula products with sell-by dates of October 2006 and beyond are perfectly good for consumption.
On its Italian Website, Nestle said in a statement posted before the recall that even though its tests and tests by outside labs had not shown that ITX had infiltrated the boxes, it was going ahead with the recall as a precautionary measure. The company said it is replacing the product line with another kind of packaging that does not rely on cardboard box containers.
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