Nutrica recalls Karicare infant formula in New Zealand

WELLINGTON - The maker of Karicare, an infant formula, has recalled two products from the New Zealand market.

A statement on Nutricia's website said on Sunday that safety for customers is its primary concern.

The products being recalled are Karicare Infant Formula Stage One and Karicare Gold plus Follow On Formula Stage Two.

Nutricia is now recalling Karicare Infant Formula Stage 1 (0-6 months), with batch numbers 3169 and 3170 and use by dates of 17 06 2016 and 18 06 2016.

Also being recalled is Karicare Gold+ Follow On Formula Stage 2 (6-12 months), with batch number D3183 and a use by date of 31 12 2014.

Only the products in New Zealand are being recalled. The recall does not include other Karicare products.

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra on Saturday informed Nutricia that one of their ingredients had a potential quality issue, Nutricia said in a statement released overnight.

Consumers should not feed products with these batch numbers to infants, Nutricia said.

Fonterra said early Saturday that on Wednesday tests indicated the potential presence of a strain of Clostridium (Clostridium Botulinum) in a whey concentrate sample, which can cause botulism.

The whey protein affected was produced in May 2012 and the company said a dirty pipe at its Hautapu plant in North Island's Waikato region was responsible for the contamination.

New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said on Sunday questions of why and where the potential contamination happened, who is going to take responsibility and why the government wasn't informed earlier are very important.

He said there will be a full investigation but right now the priority is dealing with the immediate issue.

Meanwhile, furious parents, exporters and officials are questioning why it took Fonterra more than a year to identify and warn of a deadly bacteria possibly contaminating baby formula here and overseas.

New Zealand exporters say Fonterra's crisis is affecting them all and damaging the country's reputation for food safety around the world.

The scare involves 40 tons of tainted concentrated whey used to make 900 tons of food including infant formula, yogurt, sports and protein drinks across seven countries, including  Australia, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

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