EU Steps Up Border Control on Chinese Oil Tied to Baby Formula Deaths

(MENAFN) The European Union has sharply tightened its grip on imports of arachidonic acid oil from China, mandating sweeping new border inspections following a wave of global infant formula recalls linked to toxic contamination, according to a ruling published Wednesday in the bloc's Official Journal.

Effective Thursday, customs officials across all EU member states are required to physically inspect half of all incoming Chinese shipments containing the substance — a compound the official decision warned "is likely to constitute a serious risk for human health."

The emergency measure follows a contamination crisis that has reverberated across more than 60 countries since December, after major formula manufacturers Nestlé, Danone, and Lactalis issued sweeping product recalls over fears their infant formulas had been tainted with cereulide, a heat-stable bacterial toxin capable of triggering severe gastrointestinal illness.

EU food safety and disease prevention agencies have confirmed that at least seven European countries, including Belgium, have recorded cases of infants suffering gastrointestinal symptoms following consumption of the affected products.

The situation has taken a gravely serious turn in France, where authorities are now investigating the deaths of two babies — the most recent occurring on Feb. 5 — over suspected links to the recalled formula brands.

Investigators have traced the source of the cereulide contamination to arachidonic acid oil supplied from China — a key ingredient used in infant formula to replicate the nutritional profile of breast milk — placing the ingredient and its supply chain at the center of one of the most serious infant food safety crises in recent memory.

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