RENNES, France: Infant formula consumed by a baby who died in France in December 2025, contained “abnormal” levels of a toxin that can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, the family’s lawyers said Friday.
Several manufacturers, including European giants like Nestle, Danone and Lactalis, have issued recalls of infant formula that could be contaminated with the toxin cereulide in more than 60 countries since December.
French authorities said last month that they were aware of three deaths of infants who consumed powdered milk affected by the contamination scare.
The 27-day-old baby, who died on December 23 in the western city of Angers, had consumed Nestle’s Guigoz formula “in the hours preceding her sudden death”, lawyers said in a statement.
A direct link between the formula and her death has not yet been confirmed, however.
Angers public prosecutor Eric Bouillard told AFP the investigation and analyses were ongoing.
Bouillard previously told AFP that an investigation into the infant’s death was launched in December.
The mother contacted the authorities in January, saying her baby had drunk Nestle milk from one of the lots removed from the market.
In February, a French infant for the first time tested positive for cereulide after consuming baby formula.
But France’s health ministry warned that a direct causal link had yet to be established.
The finding came just after the European Union imposed tighter border controls on imports from China of arachidonic acid oil, the ingredient thought to contain the toxin.
Two EU agencies, the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, said that a total of seven countries in Europe had reported cases of babies with gastrointestinal symptoms following consumption of powdered milk.
