Baby formula botulism outbreak prompts global safety study

Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free national newsletter here. An international food standards committee of the United Nations and World Health Organization has called for a scientific risk assessment of botulism spores in powdered infant formulas as a result of the U.S. outbreak linked to ByHeart products. The action by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene, supported by attendees from 50 member countries, noted the “global implications” of contaminated baby formula. It was taken as U.S. health agencies have struggled since early November to determine how ByHeart’s formula became contaminated. Investigations have been ongoing since early November. At least 51 U.S. babies have been sickened with infant botulism in the outbreak, with no new cases identified in recent weeks; all required hospitalization. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it was first alerted on Nov. 6 to an initial cluster of illnesses linked to ByHeart formula and that its investiga