France orders international recall of Lactalis formula over bacteria

France has banned the sale and ordered a recall of several baby formula milk and baby food products made by French dairy giant Lactalis after the discovery of salmonella bacteria, consumer protection agency Direction Generale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Repression des Fraudes (DGCCRF) said in a statement.

The recall includes products for export, such as to the Chinese mainland, the island of Taiwan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco, Lebanon, Sudan, Romania, Serbia and Peru.

The agency said that Lactalis, the world’s largest dairy company, had not managed contamination risk and it has been ordered to conduct a product recall and halt the sale and export of several baby food products made at its Craon plant in western France since February 15.

The recall follows 20 cases of salmonella infection of infants in France in early December, which prompted a limited recall of 12 Lactalis products.

This week, five new cases were reported of infection with the salmonella agona bacteria. One of the infants had consumed a Lactalis product that was not on the first recall list. The infants have now recovered, DGCCRF said.

Lactalis spokesman Michel Nalet said on BFM Television that the products can be exchanged in pharmacies or supermarkets. He said that any salmonella bacteria would be killed by boiling the milk for two minutes.

China has suspended the registration of Celia Laiterie de Craon, which belongs to Lactalis, due to recalls of 12 batches of formula products, according to a post on the website of the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China on December 6.