ISTANBUL
Twenty-four families have taken the French state and baby formula manufacturers to court on Tuesday, alleging inadequate investigations into contaminated infant formula.
The families filed a complaint with the Paris judicial court against the state and manufacturers, accusing them of deliberate endangerment, keeping dangerous food products on the market, involuntary injuries and obstruction of the establishment of the truth, broadcaster France Info reported.
The complaint was lodged more than two months after the first recall of Nestle’s Guigoz brand infant formula contaminated with the cereulide toxin. Only two products are currently under official testing in criminal investigations, despite calls from other families for broader analyses.
After reporting symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, fainting and severe infections — sometimes requiring hospitalization — the families are demanding that the milk powders consumed by their children be tested by an independent laboratory. They say authorities have failed to act or redirected them to the manufacturers to examine the products.
Nestle last week expanded its baby formula recall to include an additional batch of its Guigoz brand after France lowered the maximum permitted threshold for a known toxin.
Cereulide, a toxin that can trigger symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, has been linked to the recall of multiple Nestle baby food products across Europe.