Bangladesh removing Lactalis baby milk from shops after salmonella scare

Bangladesh authorities have asked the importers to take down the baby milk of Lactalis from shop shelves as the French dairy giant has announced compensation for families affected by salmonella bacteria in its products.

Bangladesh is among the 83 countries from which Lactalis has ordered a recall of the baby formula.

Khaled Hussain, Secretary of Bangladesh Food Safety Authority, told bdnews24.com on Sunday, “We’ve asked the importers to remove these products. The customs has also been informed.”

BFSA earlier published a notice, alerting the people to the possible presence to salmonella in Lactalis’ Baby Care 1, Baby Care 1B and Baby Care 2B brought between February and October last year.

The importer of the Lactalis’ products, JES International, was asked to withdraw the products from the market immediately at the time.

In December, during the first recall of its baby formula, Lactalis suspended export of Baby Care 3 scheduled for shipment in 2020.

It recalled the products for the third time in a month on Friday. The recall involves some 12 million tins of baby milk in total.

On Sunday, Lactalis Chief Executive Emmanuel Besnier told the weekly Journal du Dimanche his family company, one of the world's biggest dairies, would "pay damages to every family which has suffered a prejudice", Reuters reported.

Salmonella infections can be life-threatening and the families of three dozen children who have fallen sick in France as a result of the contaminated baby milk have announced a raft of lawsuits.

The health scare intensified last week after France's biggest retailers including Carrefour, Auchan and Leclerc admitted products recalled in December had still found their way onto shelves.

French authorities have welcomed Besnier’s promise for compensation, but said a judicial investigation to determine who was responsible will continue.