SA baby formula 'safe'

This assurance comes after the Sunday Times reported that S-26 was banned by the Tanzanian Food and Drug Authority after it received complaints that the product was making babies ill.

Yesterday, Karyn Purchase, Aspen Nutritionals' factory manager, said: “I'm happy with every single product on-shelf [in South Africa] has been tested and is safe. There is nothing in the South African market that has not been tested.

“S-26 has been manufactured in South Africa for the past 40 years without any adverse incident being recorded.

“Up to 60 individual tests, including physical, sensorial, chemical and microbiological testing, is performed on every single batch number of [formula] sold by Aspen to ensure that the food safety of our customers is protected 100%.”

S-26 is manufactured in Sandton, Johannesburg, by Aspen Pharmacare.

No problems with S-26 have been reported in South Africa but the health department said it would carry out independent tests on the popular baby milk formula, which is used in state and private hospitals by mothers who do not breast-feed.

The scare occurred after Tanzanian authorities said that tests had shown S-26 to be “unfit for human consumption”. The tests were conducted after complaints that babies fed the formula vomited and developed stomach disorders.

Almost 40,000 tins were confiscated in Tanzania after testing showed that the product contained high levels of free fatty acids and peroxides.

Aspen said that the product sold in Tanzania might be counterfeit.

Yesterday, Purchase said that the label on the Tanzanian product did not match that of the South African-produced S-26.

“We are very concerned [about the allegations]. It is essential that we verify whether those [allegedly tainted] products originated from our factory,” said Purchase.

So far, testing of the allegedly tainted formula on sale in Tanzania has found that the product was “within specification”.

Source: The Times

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