Parents concerned Aptamil baby milk could be causing illnesses

One of Danone’s products, Aptamil baby milk, has been subject to scrutiny in the past weeks over claims that changes to its formula are causing illness in babies. Parents have reported that the changes to three of its formulas, Aptamil First Infant Milk powder, Aptamil Follow On Milk powder and Aptamil Growing Up Milk powder have caused problems like vomiting and diarrhea. Complaints have flooded the Aptaclub UK Facebook page, which is a customer service page for Aptamil products.

What do parents say?

Whilst some parents have reported that they’ve had no problems with the new version of Aptamil formula, others have posted online that they have caused symptoms which stopped when they switched to a different version or a different brand.

For example, on parent, Rachel Davies, a mother in Wales whose baby, Melissa, is 3 months old said: “She has been sick after every feed since starting this new formula. I managed to find the old Aptamil and (Melissa) was great again, no problems.”

She added that after running out of the old version and switching back to the new one, her baby became ill again. “At 3 a.m. this morning, I drove to my local superstore to get a different brand of milk. She hasn’t been so bad after that,” she said.

Some parents have also noticed problems with the way the milk powder dissolves in the water, saying that its leaving clumps. “It smelled different, like gone-off milk that had been left out for a day,” said Rosie Menzies, from Lymington, Hampshire.

Rebecca Heal in Larkfield, Kent said: “It took a lot of effort and shaking to get it to mix properly. “Even after a minute or so of vigorous shaking, the milk still had gritty residue on the sides of the bottle, but just increased the amount of froth on the top as a result.”

What’s Danone’s response?

In response, Aptaclub UK said it’s taking the feedback seriously and will be investigating the problem, along with any future issues that might arise. According to a recent post on their Facebook page, they say: “We take every concern very seriously and rest assured any issues with our products are investigated thoroughly.” Additionally, they’ve now set up a helpline for parents who have concerns about the new formula.

Danone UK said in a statement: “We would like to reassure parents that the quality and safety of our products is our number one priority. We have recently introduced new Aptamil formulations and we recognise that some families have not found the transition to the new formula easy. We have undertaken extensive quality and safety checks, including clinical trials, product testing and product experience tests on these products.”

“The results have shown that babies take to this formula well and that it is safe. We have updated the mixing instructions on our packs as this new formula requires parents to mix it up slightly differently, compared to the previous formulation – specifically, shaking vigorously for 10 seconds to dissolve the powder.”