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Poison in baby milk: Danone now also recalls products
6.2.2026
Translation: machine translated
More and more companies are reporting that their products may contain a bacterial toxin. Nestlé was the first with Beba, Hochdorf followed, and now Danone is recalling Aptamil baby milk, among other products. Batches sold by Galaxus are also affected.
It is a disaster for food companies when harmful substances and toxins are found in products for babies of all things. For several weeks now, a series of baby milk products have been recalled. The reason: they may contain the bacterial toxin cereulide. It can cause diarrhoea and vomiting.
The latest recall comes from Danone. There have already been recalls in several European countries in recent days. Switzerland, however, was not affected and no products had to be recalled. This only applied until Thursday. Danone now provides the following information on its website:
In coordination with the Swiss authorities, Danone is recalling certain production batches of Aptamil in Switzerland - in light of the updated recommendations on the cereulide threshold value.
Danone is therefore referring to updated recommendations from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). These were published on 2 February (Monday). At the request of the European Commission, the authority carried out a risk assessment and determined a specific «acute reference dose». These are not the limit values that have been in force for some time, but adjusted values for very young infants up to the age of 16 weeks. The ESFA chose values that are only about half as high here because this group metabolises «substances differently than adults».
What does Galaxus do?
Galaxus also sold products from the affected batches. In such cases, buyers are informed directly by us by email. The manufacturers provide us with the batch number of the products affected by the recall. This data is then compared with the sales and finally the emails are sent.
Nestlé, for example, informed customers about the Beba recall at the beginning of January; customers were informed and their money was refunded. The same applied to those who had purchased affected Bimbosan products from Hochdorf.
In the current case of Aptamil from Danone, the information is currently on its way or has already been sent - depending on when you read this article.
In principle, large-scale recalls are always publicised via the media. This is to ensure that the necessary information reaches all buyers as quickly as possible. A list of all affected products in Switzerland can be found here.
A problem of global proportions
The simultaneous recalls by groups such as Nestlé and Danone, as well as other smaller manufacturers, can probably be traced back to problems at common suppliers.
The bacterial toxin cereulide may have formed because manufacturers add a certain oil to their products. This oil contains a certain omega-6 fatty acid that also occurs naturally in breast milk. However, the exact cause has so far mainly been the subject of conjecture and speculation.
Resistant bacterium
The only thing that is clear is that Bacillus cereus is a pretty tough bugger of a bacterium. As the Science desk of the SRF has researched, the bacterium forms spores in survival mode «» , which can even survive boiling water. Accordingly, the toxin cereulide produced by Bacillus also survives.
The favourite habitat for Bacillus cereus is cooked rice, especially if you leave it unrefrigerated for several days. Bacillus cereus spores can then become living bacteria again. They feed on the starch in the rice and multiply rapidly. And in the process, they produce the typical cereulide toxins that cause vomiting and diarrhoea.
Header image: Shutterstock
Martin Jungfer
Head of Content
Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.chJournalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.
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