Hundreds of Nestlé products could be contaminated with poison

No time? blue News summarizes for you

• Nestlé is recalling numerous infant formula products worldwide as a precautionary measure. Switzerland is also affected.
• Contamination has occurred in a supplier factory: As a result, products could be contaminated with a bacterial toxin.
• The toxin cereulide has already been detected in two batches in Austria.

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The products affected include the well-known Beba brand and special products such as Alfamino: The food company Nestlé has launched a large-scale product recall of infant formula. Parents have been asked to stop using the affected products from certain batches.

According to the company, the recall initially targeted products sold in Germany and Austria, among other countries. It later became known that Switzerland was also affected, as a spokeswoman confirmed to blue News.

Affected consumers are asked to contact Nestlé Switzerland for an exchange or refund (phone: 0800 55 44 66 or www.nestle.ch/de/info). If this is not possible, the products should be returned to the point of sale where they were purchased.

Consumers are asked not to use the affected products and to follow the recall instructions.

Nestlé published public notices with lists of affected batches in the relevant countries on Monday. No cases of illness in connection with consumption are known to date.

Two samples in Austria contaminated

According to the information, small amounts of cereulide were found in two batches during official inspections in Austria. The toxin is produced by the microorganism Bacillus Cereus.

The heat-resistant toxin can cause nausea and vomiting, but does not multiply further in the product. According to the Austrian Ministry of Health, there is no health risk due to the very low concentrations.

Nestlé had already carried out a silent recall over the Christmas holidays and removed the affected products from the shelves. This was followed by a public recall on Monday. In mid-December 2025, Nestlé had already announced preventive recalls of baby milk powders in several European countries, including France, Finland and Denmark.

According to the Austrian authorities, the recall affects more than 800 products from over ten plants worldwide. The cause is a technical cleaning defect in a supplier plant, which led to the contamination of an ingredient in December.

Analysts see low risk

In initial comments, analysts did not classify the incident as serious for Nestlé. The extent of the incident is mainly explained by Nestlé's global production and distribution structure, not by the severity of the risk, Helvetische Bank wrote in a commentary.

Overall, the incident is considered to be operationally resolved and manageable from a risk, regulatory and reputational perspective. "Nevertheless, the incident remains unpleasant for Nestlé."