Baby’s death at seven weeks old ‘linked to contaminated formula recall’, inquest hears

A BABY died aged just seven weeks as an inquest heard concerns his death may be linked to a recalled baby formula.

It comes as at least 36 children across the UK have fallen ill with suspected food poisoning from contaminated baby formula.

Essa Arshad, from Aylesbury, died at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on July 23 last year.

Opening the inquest at Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court, a document said: “Essa died in July 2025 but recent concerns have been raised that his death may be linked to contaminated formula following a recent product recall.”

Several months later, several major baby formulas were recalled over fears they could contain the cereulide toxin, which can cause sickness and stomach pains.

It has not been confirmed whether Essa consumed any of the recalled products or affected batches.

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His medical causes of death were recorded as acute liver failure and mitochondrial disorder.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it and its partner agencies had received notifications of children “developing symptoms consistent with cereulide toxin after consuming potentially affected batches”.

Affected children developed symptoms consistent with cereulide poisoning after consuming the formula.

Cereulide is a toxin produced by strains of the common bacteria Bacillus cereus, which is found in soil and food.

Symptoms can emerge for some people within just 30 minutes of consuming contaminated food.

Babies can suffer repeated vomiting, nausea and painful stomach cramps.

Most recover within 24 hours. But in rare and severe cases, the toxin can trigger acute liver failure, and even prove fatal.

Several batches of SMA infant formula and one batch of Aptamil First Infant Formula were recalled after cereulide toxin was detected in the products.

Cases spanned the country, with 24 reports in England, seven in Scotland, three in Wales, one in Northern Ireland and one in the Crown Dependencies.

“Given the widespread availability of the products, this is not unexpected,” said Gauri Godbole, deputy director of gastrointestinal infections, food safety and One Health at the UKHSA.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said Cereulide is “unlikely to be deactivated or destroyed by cooking, using boiling water or when making the infant milk.”

On January 5, the FSA said Nestle was recalling several batches of 12 SMA Infant Formula and Follow-On products.

On January 24, Danone recalled one batch of Aptamil First Infant Formula due to cereulide contamination.

It was confirmed that the contamination in both recalls came from a shared third-party ingredient supplier.

The FSA has urged parents who had any of the affected products left, to stop using them and switch to an alternative formula.

If you have fed it to your baby and are concerned, contact your GP or NHS 111 for advice, it added.