For the first time, the cereulide toxin, behind the current wave of infant formula recalls, has been detected in a French baby who was hospitalized, while families accuse the state of minimizing the risks through insufficient monitoring.
France has received "a first positive stool test result for cereulide toxin" in an infant hospitalized after consuming recalled milk, the Ministry of Health announced Friday, confirming a report by Radio France.
This is a first for a French baby, although it does not allow us to conclude a cause-and-effect relationship, after two months of doubts and health-related questions surrounding the infant formula affair.
This began with Nestlé recalling dozens of batches in some sixty countries because of the potential presence of cereulide, a toxin that can cause dangerous vomiting in a newborn.
Then, it escalated with a cascade of similar recalls by manufacturers like Danone and Lactalis, but also by smaller players in this rapidly growing market. The common thread: an ingredient supplied by the same Chinese subcontractor.
Three deaths have been reported among babies who consumed recalled milk in France, the only European country in this situation, as well as about ten hospitalizations. However, no causal link has yet been established.
In this context, Friday's announcement provides an indication of poisoning, even though the Ministry of Health remains on its line, assuring that it is too early to suggest a link and, therefore, any first proven health consequences of this wave of recalls.
"Attribution" can only be established by "caregivers who took care of the child" in conjunction with "toxicology specialists mobilized as part of the investigations," the ministry explains.
He did not release details of the case. According to Radio France, it involves a baby hospitalized overnight in early February in Montpellier who consumed Gallia (Danone) milk.
This development comes at a time when several families are directly accusing the State of implementing a surveillance policy that minimizes the reality of the health consequences.
– Cases in Belgium –
The associations, which have launched several legal actions against the state and manufacturers, point in particular to recalls that were too late, with excessive responsibility placed on manufacturers and insufficient analytical capacity, as France had to delegate the search for cereulide to Belgium. Belgium reported in mid-February the presence of the toxin in eight babies who had consumed recalled milk, all with "mild" symptoms.
France, for its part, waited several weeks before transmitting to caregivers and hospitals criteria justifying an alert, these being quite broad and not very distinct from gastroenteritis.
"We can say that we are minimizing the number of cases so that there are fewer victims recorded," Nathalie Goutaland, lawyer for the Intox'Alim collective, which brings together several families, told AFP.
Me Goutaland, who this week filed an emergency appeal with the Council of State, suggests a possibility of "conflict of interest" on the part of the State given the risk of being held accountable.
“Indeed, there is a minimization,” says Quentin Guillemain, president of the APS-Enfants association, which was created in response to the Lactalis case involving infant formula in 2017. He believes that in the long run, “the State will probably be condemned for culpable negligence.”
For its part, the Ministry of Health explains that it did not seek to compile an exhaustive list of poisonings, but rather focused on the potentially most serious cases. The aim is rather "to allow the authorities to pay particular attention to the most sensitive situations," it told AFP.
Since the beginning of the crisis, health authorities have also repeatedly assured that carrying out analyses was not crucial for doctors, since a baby will be treated in the same way whether it is suffering from cereulide poisoning or severe gastroenteritis.
"The fact that the detection of cereulide has no impact on care is irrelevant," replies Mr. Goutaland, believing that a "right of access to evidence" is at stake for families.
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