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At least 51 children have been hospitalized in an outbreak of botulism tied to contaminated infant formula, state health officials announced Wednesday.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that suspected and confirmed cases have now been reported in 19 States among infants consuming ByHEart formula – Up from 39 cases from the previous 18 cases.
Based on the CDC’s expanded review of cases, infants ages 2 to 2 weeks and up to 8 months of age have been sick since Dec. 24, 2023. No death.
Cases have been reported in Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Illinois, Massachusetts, North, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Infant formula was recalled as botulism outbreaks escalated
Byheart decided to remove any potential risk from the market by releasing its Forword Linces formula following notice from several ongoing investigations into the recent botulism outbreak. (US Food and Drug Administration)
Infant botulism is rare, usually affecting fewer than 200 children in the US each year, according to health studies. This disease is serious and can cause disability or death. It develops when the toxin-producing agent grows in the large intestine, and symptoms can take weeks to appear.
The FDA said all Byheart formula must be available on store shelves and noted that the product has not appeared in stores since November 26.
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Case Count Mapping of infant botulism linked to infant formula in the US (FDA/FOX News)
“All ByHEART infant formula products are being recalled, and these products should not be available for sale in stores or online. This includes all cans of formula and the One Page ‘anywhere pack’ anywhere.” The FDA.
Byheart released a statement on its website on November 24 explaining, “Based on these results, we cannot rule out the risk that all ByHEART formula in the entire product lot may have been contaminated.”
“As soon as we learned from the FDA of the botulism outbreak, we immediately worked with the laboratories and the global team, to test the cans for food safety, and process the opened cans of the ByHEART product, and move forward.”
A bottle of baby formula with a mother holding her baby. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
“We continue to focus on finding the root cause, with rigorous audits of every step of our product development, from suppliers and raw ingredients, packaging and transportation. This includes efficiency.
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Customers who purchased Byheart formula at retail stores can request a refund directly from the retailer, who will handle the process and provide details of their return policy, the company said.
Byheart did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
