GLOBAL ACTION NEEDED ON INFANT FORMULA CONTAMINATION

 Geneva, Friday 22 May 2026.

During the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79) in Geneva IBFAN and ILCA called on Member States to commit to urgent, binding reforms to commercial formula safety standards and management, as the fallout from a contamination crisis affecting more than 130 countries continues to grow.

A side event, “Contaminated Commercial Formula — The Need for a Global Response,” brought together food safety experts, whistle-blowers, parliamentarians and representatives of WHO, UNICEF and Member States. Since late 2025, contamination-linked recalls of infant formula have affected major global brands – with the most recent recall traced to a single ingredient — arachidonic acid (ARA) oil, supplied by a producer in China. The heat-resistant toxin cereulide in Nestle, Danone and Lactalis formulas triggered one of the largest infant formula recalls on record.

In France, authorities opened investigations into the deaths of infants who had consumed recalled formula and criminal complaints have been filed alleging that companies were too slow to warn the public. A joint investigation by Radio France, RTBF and RTS reported that Nestlé delayed alerting European authorities to the presence of cereulide and questioned the speed of recalls. Nestlé has rejected the reports as “inaccurate and misleading,” saying it acted with full transparency and cooperated with authorities from the outset.  In a separate emergency in the United States in late 2025, a recall of ByHeart infant formula was linked to 51 infants hospitalised with botulism.

With presentations from WHO, UNICEF, parliamentarians, Member States, and a youth spokesperson, the side event heard from  Yasmine Motarjemi, a food safety scientist with a singular vantage point as WHO Head of Food Safety from 1990 to 2000, and Global Director of Food Safety at Nestlé from 2000 to 2010. She explained how the global food safety system must change and why protecting whistle-blowers is essential.  Ultimately forced out after repeatedly raising internal concerns about the company’s management of food safety — concerns she says were ignored. By her account, her department, responsible for quality control, was never once inspected by government authorities during her entire tenure at Nestlé, even when food incidents arose.

The meeting features recordings from parents who explained the reality and distress the contamination has caused. Speakers from Burundi, Panama alongside IBFAN Chair, Tshimi Lynn Moeng Mahlangu, from South Africa,  emphasised the often forgotten impact on families in the Global South and in emergency contexts, where testing, detection, treatment and safe alternatives may be severely limited and where a recall ordered in one region may never reach the families relying on the same products elsewhere.

The Side event called on Member States to commit to:

• Mandatory, independently verified food safety standardsduring manufacturing
• Independent oversight of food operators
• Better early-warning systemsfor healthcare professionals and parents
• Equipped healthcare systemsto monitor and document health problems during outbreaks
• Full implementation of WHO recommendations and resolutions including the WHA Resolution 78.18 addressing digital marketing as baseline safeguards
• Protection and support for whistle-blowerswho raise safety concerns

At the end of the meeting,  Patti Rundall, a member of IBFAN’s Global Council, raised IBFAN concerns about new Codex Guidelines, promoted by the USA that could soon allow weaker labelling of food products in emergencies. IBFAN believes this will open the door to commercial exploitation, double standards and unethical dumping of products in the global south, Member States were urged to send health delegates to Codex and ensure that products for babies are excluded from this proposal.(1)

The side event was used to launch the latest WHO/UNICEF/IBFAN status report on the progress made by countries on implementing WHA recommendations:  Marketing of breast-milk substitutes: national implementation of the International Code, status report 2026

 (1) See examples: Contaminated Commercial Milk Formula: A global response is needed. Infant Feeding in Emergencies Core Group. IFE WHA79 Advocacy

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More information and a link to the side event: https://www.ibfan.org/ibfan-wha79-contaminated-commercial-formula-2026/

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BACKGROUND: A CRISIS DECADES IN THE MAKING

Advocates stress that this is not a new problem. For decades, intrinsic contamination of infant formula has caused recurring crises: factory closures, interrupted supplies, infant deaths and distress to families. IBFAN and ILCA note that the online promotion of breastmilk substitutes — addressed under World Health Assembly Resolution WHA78.18 on the digital marketing of breastmilk substitutes — drives dependence on commercial products beyond actual need, while the global export of formula products amplifies both safety risks and the logistical difficulty of recalls.

IBFAN and ILCA emphasise particular concern for families in the Global South and in emergency contexts, where testing, detection, treatment and safe alternatives may be severely limited, and where a recall ordered in one region may never reach the families relying on the same products elsewhere.

Existing WHO and Codex Alimentarius food safety guidelines for infant formula are more than 20 years old and do not adequately address threats such as Clostridium botulinum, which forms heat-resistant spores, or cereulide — the bacterial toxin at the heart of the current crisis.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Event: Contaminated Commercial Formula — The Need for a Global Response Date / Location: Friday 22 May 2026, World Health Assembly, Geneva Hosts: IBFAN (International Baby Food Action Network) & ILCA (International Lactation Consultant Association) More information: https://www.ibfan.org/ibfan-wha79-contaminated-commercial-formula-2026/

REGISTER TO ATTEND LIVE EVENT at WHA (Hybrid): https://www.ibfan.org/side-event-wha79-contaminated-commercial-formula/

Available for interview:

• Yasmine Motarjemi — former Head of Food Safety, WHO (1990–2000) and Global Director of Food Safety, Nestlé (2000–2010); whistleblower with unique insight into how both the international system and industry operate, and where both have failed.
• Malvina Walsh — available to speak to the global public health and regulatory dimensions of the crisis and the reforms being sought at WHA79.

About IBFAN: The International Baby Food Action Network is a global coalition of public interest groups working to reduce infant and young child morbidity and mortality, protect and support breastfeeding, and ensure that breastmilk substitutes — where needed — are produced, marketed and used safely, in line with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions.

MEDIA  CONTACTS:

For IBFAN:

Patti Rundall, prundall@babymilkaction.org, +447786 523493

Malvina Walsh,  malvinafleming@gmail.com  +353 (87) 782 1268

Tshimi Lynn Moeng   tshimi.moeng2@gmail.com

For ILCA:

Zoe Faulkner, zoefaulkner@ilca.org +44 7769688038

Lisa Mandell: advocacy@ilca.org

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