Nestle, particularly its marketing of its breast milk substitute products, has long been the focus of criticism. (Photo: Wikipedia) 
By Alexander Marrow and Oliver Hirt
The recall, which began on a smaller scale in December, adds pressure on new Chief Executive Philipp Navratil, who is seeking to revive growth through a portfolio review after a period of management upheaval.
Nestle, which makes products ranging from KitKat to Nescafe, said late on Monday that no illnesses had been confirmed in connection with the recalled products.
After a quality issue was detected in an ingredient from a leading supplier, Nestle undertook "testing of all arachidonic acid oil and corresponding oil mixes used in the production of its potentially impacted infant nutrition products," a Nestle spokesperson said.
With testing complete, Nestle has recalled affected products and is activating alternative suppliers of arachidonic acid oil, ramping up production at several factories and accelerating the release of unaffected products from distribution centres to maintain supply.
FOOD POISONING SYMPTOMS CAN QUICKLY DEVELOP
Problems with baby formula can be damaging for companies. Reckitt RKT.L is exploring options, including a sale, for its Mead Johnson business, which faces hundreds of lawsuits in the U.S. over claims - which it denies - that its infant formula can cause a fatal intestinal illness in premature babies.
Nestle, whose shares have fallen more than 3% in the last two sessions, controls almost a quarter of the $92.2 billion global infant nutrition market, according to SkyQuest Technology Group.
Nestle does not publish sales data, but infant formula is part of its Nutrition and Health Science division, which accounted for 16.6% of total sales of 91.4 billion Swiss francs ($115.4 billion) in 2024.
Nestle said the recall covered batches sold across Europe, as well as in Turkey and Argentina, due to possible contamination with cereulide, a toxin produced by some strains of Bacillus cereus.
The toxin "is unlikely to be deactivated or destroyed by cooking, using boiling water or when making the infant milk," said Britain's Food Standards Agency.
"Cereulide ... can cause food poisoning symptoms which can be quick to develop and include vomiting and stomach cramps," said Jane Rawling, head of incidents at the FSA.
LARGEST RECALL IN NESTLE HISTORY, SAYS AUSTRIAN MINISTRY
Austria's health ministry said the recall affected more than 800 products from over 10 Nestle factories and was the largest in the company's history. A Nestle spokesperson could not verify those figures.
Nestle published batch numbers for products sold in various countries that should not be consumed and said it was working to minimise supply disruption.
The company said it identified the potential risk at one factory in the Netherlands. Dutch food safety authority NVWA said Nestle's investigation showed the contaminated raw material had been used at multiple production sites, including outside the Netherlands.
($1 = 0.7924 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow in London and Oliver Hirt in Zurich. Additional reporting by Sam Tabahriti and Anthony Deutsch. Editing by Alexander Smith, Bernadette Baum and Mark Potter)