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At least 51 babies have been hospitalized due to a growing botulism outbreak linked to contaminated baby food, federal health officials announced Wednesday.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said there are now suspected and confirmed cases reported in 19 states among infants who used ByHeart formula — up from 39 cases in 18 states a week ago.
Based on the CDC’s comprehensive review of cases, infants from ages 2 weeks to 8 months have been getting sick since December 24, 2023. No deaths have been reported.
Cases have been reported in Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
BABY FORMULA REMEMBERED AS PURGE BOTULISM OUTBREAK GROWS
ByHeart decided to remove any potential risk from the market by issuing a recall for its Whole Nutrition Infant Formula, following notification by the FDA of a broader ongoing investigation into a recent outbreak of infant botulism. (US Food and Drug Administration)
Baby botulism is rare and typically affects fewer than 200 babies in the U.S. per year, according to health studies. The disease is serious and can cause paralysis or death. It occurs when a toxin-producing bacteria grows in the colon and it can take weeks for symptoms to appear.
The FDA said all ByHeart formulas should be absent from store shelves, noting that the product has not appeared in stores since Nov. 26.
CINNAMON POWDER REMOVED IN 14 STATES OVER POTENTIAL ‘INCREASED LEAD LEVELS’
“All ByHeart infant formula products have been recalled and these products should not be available for purchase in stores or online. This includes all single-use formula cans and ‘anywhere pack’ sticks,” the FDA said.
ByHeart has one statement on its website on November 24, explaining: “Based on these results, we cannot rule out the risk that all ByHeart formulations in all product lots may be contaminated.”
“As soon as we heard from the FDA about the infant botulism outbreak, we immediately worked with IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group, a global leader in food safety testing, to test unopened cans of ByHeart products and issue a nationwide recall.”
A bottle of baby food with a mother holding her baby. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
“We remain focused on finding the root cause, through a rigorous audit of every step of our product development chain, from suppliers and raw materials to packaging and transportation. This includes testing more product samples.”
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