Infant milk formula exporter a2 Milk recalls batches in United States

Infant milk formula exporter a2 Milk has recalled three batches of Synlait-manufactured a2 Platinum infant milk formula in the United States due to the presence of cereulide.

Cereulide was a heat-stable toxin produced by some strains of the bacterium Bacillus cereus which could cause nausea and vomiting - symptoms typically developed within 30 minutes to six hours of ingestion.

a2 Milk told the NZX on Monday, the recall related to a "relatively small" quantity of about 63,078 tins in the US - over 16,000 of which had been sold to consumers.

No confirmed incidents of infant illness or harm had been reported to the company.

The impacted batches were distributed through a2MC's website, Amazon and Meijer stores as part of Operation Fly Formula.

Chief executive David Bortolussi said the recall does not impact infant milk formula products sold in New Zealand, Australia, China and other markets .

He said the food safety and quality of its products was its "highest priority".

"For this reason, we have voluntarily recalled three batches of our a2 Platinum USA label infant milk formula sold only in the US which had previously been discontinued with no products currently available for sale."

The probable source of cereulide is an ingredient in the product and the recall was initiated after cereulide was detected through additional testing of the product following the release of New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) industry update and expectations for managing cereulide on April 15 with application retrospectively for New Zealand infant formula manufacturers.

a2 Milk said it was communicating with US Food and Drug Administration with respect to the recall and has released guidance to its United States consumers.

The recall is not expected to impact a2's financial results, with total infant milk formula sales in the US accounting less than 0.1 percent of its total sales revenue.

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