Global formula contamination crisis: Govt urged to mandate safety warning

By A Representative 

Marking the World Breastfeeding Protection Day (May 21), the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) has raised an urgent alarm over the safety of powdered infant formula, calling on central health authorities to take immediate action following ongoing global recalls linked to bacterial contamination and infant deaths.

The 35-year-old non-profit organisation, which is part of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), expressed serious concern that intrinsic contamination of commercially manufactured formula has led to infant fatalities, factory closures, interrupted supplies, and widespread distress to families. Since November 2025, contamination detections have triggered product recalls across more than 130 countries and judicial inquiries into infant deaths in France.

BPNI emphasised that these international recalls have once again highlighted a critical but insufficiently communicated public health fact: powdered infant formula is not a sterile product. The organisation warned that intrinsic contamination can occur with organisms such as Salmonella species, Cronobacter sakazakii, Clostridium botulinum, and Bacillus cereus, either during manufacturing from the production environment or from raw ingredients. Such contamination can cause life-threatening infections, sepsis, and meningitis, particularly in preterm, low-birth-weight, and immunocompromised infants.

Citing data from the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), BPNI noted that 9.1 percent of babies in the breastfeeding group and 13.9 percent in the non-breastfeeding group in India receive infant formula. The Indian baby food and infant formula market is estimated to be valued at INR 205 billion, highlighting the scale of exposure.

On the occasion of World Breastfeeding Protection Day, BPNI called upon the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to urgently lead public health action. The organisation demanded the development of a national guidance based on WHO advice for the safe preparation, storage, handling, and disposal of powdered infant formula feeds, along with clear front-of-pack statements mandating that these products are not sterile. 

It also called for strengthened systems for surveillance, public alerts, and rapid response related to contamination and recalls. Furthermore, BPNI urged effective enforcement of the Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1992, and its 2003 amendment, to curb misleading marketing and unnecessary use of formula in hospitals. An immediate advisory to all health facilities and professional associations regarding these risks was also requested.

BPNI reiterated that breastfeeding remains the safest and most reliable source of infant nutrition, and protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding should be considered an essential public health and infant feeding safety measure. 

The organisation referenced World Health Assembly resolutions from 2005 and 2008, as well as WHO/FAO guidelines from 2007, which have long recognised these risks and advised countries to ensure that health workers and caregivers are clearly informed about safe preparation and handling of powdered infant formula.