The father of an ill Southland baby who tested negative for botulism after being fed infant formula subject to a recall says not enough was done to notify parents of problems with the products.
The four-month-old boy from Invercargill was fed Nutricia's Karicare formula from the same batch number that has been recalled by Fonterra.
The dairy giant announced last Saturday that 38 tonnes of its whey protein used by infant formula maker Nutricia was contaminated with a bacterium that can cause botulism. The whey protein was contaminated with by a dirty pipe at one of the company's processing plants in Waikato in May 2012.
The father told Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint programme he wasn't aware of the recall and continued feeding his son the formula until Monday, when he became ill.
"We were quite disgruntled because we don't think there's actually enough done to be made aware. You could look online and stuff like that and find out about it if you've got that sort of technology, but I don't think there was enough done at all."
The baby's doctor ordered a range of tests, including one for botulism which tested negative on Thursday. The boy has been diagnosed with a virus and given panadol.
Meanwhile, the Ministry for Primary Industries is warning parents not to use any remaining formula from the affected Karicare ranges and has banned exports of the two brands for the time being. The brands are Karicare Stage 1 New Baby Infant Formula and Karicare Gold Plus Stage 2 Follow On Formula.
Fonterra said on Wednesday that all 38 tonnes of the whey protein used by other manufacturers has been tracked down and either recalled, held back by its customers, or deemed safe.
