Nestlé Morocco Denies Link to Global Infant Formula Recall

Marrakech – Nestlé Morocco has moved to reassure parents that its infant formula products sold in the country are safe and unrelated to a sweeping international recall triggered by cereulide contamination.

In a statement on March 16, the company said none of its products available on the Moroccan market are subject to any health alert. It stressed that its infant formulas undergo more than 1,200 quality tests per lot before reaching shelves. No product recall has ever been registered in Morocco, Nestlé said.

“The safety, health, and well-being of babies are at the heart of all Nestlé priorities,” said Jeries Alghawaly, Managing Director of the Northwest Africa cluster at Nestlé MENA. He added that all products currently on the market meet strict national and international quality standards.

The clarification comes amid heightened parental concern following two rounds of action by Morocco’s food safety authority, the ONSSA.

On March 9, the office announced the withdrawal and destruction of new batches of infant formula linked to an international alert over the potential presence of cereulide. The toxin is produced by the bacterium Bacillus cereus and can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration in infants.

The ONSSA said it had notified the importing company and ordered the immediate removal of affected lots. Several batches were placed in warehouse quarantine pending destruction. The agency urged parents to avoid using formula from the flagged lots, identifiable by eight-digit codes beginning with 2026 or 2027 printed on the packaging.

The Moroccan measures are part of a broader global response. The crisis traces back to late November 2025, when Nestlé first detected cereulide at its Nunspeet production plant in the Netherlands.

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The contamination was traced to arachidonic acid (ARA) oil supplied by a Chinese producer. Analysis of 65 ARA oil batches revealed the contamination had persisted since October 2024, peaking in July 2025.

In mid-December 2025, Nestlé initiated limited precautionary recalls in several European countries. On January 7, it launched a voluntary precautionary recall of specific batches of NAN, S26, and Alfamino infant formula across the Middle East and North Africa region.

The recall quickly grew into one of the largest in the company’s history, eventually spanning more than 60 countries across six continents and affecting multiple brands, including SMA, Beba, Guigoz, and Alfamino.

Other major manufacturers – including Danone, Lactalis, and Hochdorf Swiss Nutrition – followed with their own precautionary withdrawals. In total, eight companies recalled products across Europe and beyond.

Nestlé MENA explicitly listed Morocco among the countries not affected by the MENA recall, alongside Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, and others.

Consumer watchdog Foodwatch criticized what it called an unacceptable delay, noting that Nestlé had informed European regulators about the contamination risk in December but only issued a public recall a month later.

The fallout has been significant. As of mid-February, seven countries – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Spain, and the United Kingdom – had reported infants with gastrointestinal symptoms linked to the contaminated formula. The UK alone investigated 44 suspected cases. Belgium confirmed cereulide in the stool samples of five infants.

In response, the European Food Safety Authority set the first EU-wide safety threshold for cereulide in infant formula, establishing an acute reference dose of 0.014 micrograms per kilogram of body weight.

Nestlé Morocco insists its locally sold products were manufactured under separate protocols and remain fully compliant. All batches currently in pharmacies and retail outlets continue to be sold normally, the company concluded.

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