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Lo Hoi-ying

Susan Su

Hong Kong pharmacies started pulling batches of Nestle baby milk formula from their shelves on Wednesday after a recall by the manufacturer over potential contamination, prompting frantic searches by thousands of mothers for alternative products.
Nestle Hong Kong apologised to parents for any distress or inconvenience caused, saying that it had not received any reports of illness or discomfort related to the products to date.
Hong Kong food safety authorities said on Tuesday that Nestle had initiated a voluntary precautionary recall of certain batches of formula in parts of Europe, as some raw materials might contain substances derived from the microorganism Bacillus cereus.
On Wednesday afternoon, membership of a WhatsApp concern group set up by a few mothers ballooned to more than 800 people within hours. The most discussed issues were which other brands they should use instead, how to obtain refunds for the recalled products and whether they should keep the formula in question.
Many mothers also complained that they kept calling Nestle’s consumer service hotline for help, but in vain.
Some parents have stockpiled Nestle formula and continue using products from unaffected batches, while others said they would seek refunds from the Swiss food giant.
The Nestle products in question cost between HK$300 and HK$545 per can.
Fiona Ng, mother of a 16-month-old, said she roped in relatives on Wednesday morning to search for Wyeth Illuma Stage 2 formula after hearing about the recall the previous night.
She said she had just finished feeding her son the last serving from an unaffected batch and found that the two tins she had stocked up at home were potentially contaminated.
“I sense that the supply of Nestle formula from the unaffected batches, as well as formula from other brands, will be in high demand,” she said, describing the situation as “dire.”
They bought 17 tins of formula from supermarkets and local pharmacies, which she said would last her son six months.
Ng said that since they could still stock up on the same formula her son was familiar with, she would refrain from switching to alternatives unless necessary.
A housewife in her thirties, surnamed Cheung, said she had been feeding her two-year-old child Nestle formula since birth and had four tins at home. However, she said she did not plan to switch to another brand or discard the remaining formula despite the announcement.
Her child, she added, had not shown any symptoms or discomfort over the past two years.
“It is just a voluntary, precautionary recall,” she said. “If the health threat were serious, I believe authorities would have taken a more forceful approach.”
The Post visited six pharmacies in Causeway Bay selling Nestle infant and young children’s milk formula on Wednesday. One staff member said Nestle representatives arrived on Tuesday to collect the affected batches, while other products from the brand remained available on the shelves.

At another pharmacy in the area, a staff member in his twenties, who gave his name only as Kit, said he had briefly seen the news earlier in the morning but had not yet received any official instructions.
After the Post informed him about the precautionary recall, he immediately removed all seven cans of Nestle formula from the shelves, although checks found that none were from the affected batches.
“Regardless of whether they’re from that batch or not, I’ll just take them all down in case there’s any trouble,” Kit said, adding that the pharmacy would wait for an official notice from the Nestle supplier.
The recall involves 21 batches of products under Nestle’s Nan line, including Nan PRO 3 BL 2 HMO (800g), as well as Wyeth Nutrition’s Illuma HA 3 BL 2 HMO (800g).

On Tuesday, Nestle said it was voluntarily recalling certain batches of its Nan infant milk formula sold in the city and on cross-border e-commerce platforms.
It said the company had not received any reports of illness or discomfort related to the products to date.
“Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution and in line with our strict quality and safety management standards, Nestle Nutrition has decided to initiate this voluntary recall,” it added.
Customers are urged to stop feeding their children the affected products and to call the company’s customer service hotline to arrange a refund.
However, when the Post called the hotline more than a dozen times, the line was persistently busy or unreachable.

When calling an alternative consumer service line listed on the company’s website, the employee who answered said they could only take down customer details but not answer specific questions about the incident, adding that a specialist would follow up.
Dr Edmund Lam Wing-wo called the situation “high risk” as Bacillus cereus was a bacterium that existed in the environment and proliferated at temperatures between 30 and 37 degrees Celsius. Some strains of Bacillus cereus produce the toxin cereulide.
“Cereulide is highly heat resistant and might not be destroyed when mixed with lukewarm water at around 40 degrees Celsius, but even multiplies when heated,” said Lam, a family doctor.
“When consumed in large quantities, it might cause acute vomiting and diarrhoea, especially in infants and toddlers.”
Lam added that the health risk might be particularly high in toddlers with poor immunity and could affect the liver and vital organs in serious cases.
Nestle, whose shares have fallen nearly 3.5 per cent in the past five days, controls almost a quarter of the US$92.2 billion global infant nutrition market, according to analysis firm SkyQuest Technology Group.
Nestle does not publish sales data, but infant formula is part of its nutrition and health science division, which accounted for 16.6 per cent of total sales of 91.4 billion Swiss francs (US$115.4 billion) in 2024.


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Only certain batches of infant formula are affected by Nestle’s recall. Photo: Sam Tsang

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Nan PRO 3 BL 2 HMO (800g). Photo: Handout

Illuma HA 3 BL 2 HMO. Photo: Handout

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Nestle has recalled batches of formula in various European countries.  Photo: EPA

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News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Membership of a WhatsApp concern group set up by a few mothers balloons to more than 800 people within hours


Membership of a WhatsApp concern group set up by a few mothers balloons to more than 800 people within hours.


Baby formula

Consumer protection in Hong Kong

Consumers

Hong Kong pharmacies pull Nestle baby milk formula amid recall over toxin risk

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Membership of a WhatsApp concern group set up by a few mothers balloons to more than 800 people within hours

Membership of a WhatsApp concern group set up by a few mothers balloons to more than 800 people within hours