Aptamil baby milk complaints in the UK: Parents express their concerns

With a string of Aptamil baby milk complaints from worried British parents emerging recently, French food giant Danone is closely examining the product, says a BBC report. 

In Singapore, should you be worried if your baby drinks this formula milk? We got in touch with Danone Singapore to find out for you. But first, some background to the situation.  

LEFT: new version of formula. RIGHT: old version. | Image: Screengrab/BBC

Taking to social media, hundreds of parents in the UK recently complained that the newly revised Aptamil baby milk formula is making their babies sick. 

“Aptamil [UK] recently changed the recipe of three of its baby milk formulas,” explains the BBC.

These products are Aptamil First Infant Milk powder (stage 1), Aptamil Follow On Milk powder (stage 2) and Aptamil Growing Up Milk powders (stages 3 & 4).

UK mums told the BBC that their little ones had tummy aches after drinking the new version of Aptamil First Infant Milk powder (stage 1).

They also noticed clumps of milk powder in the bottle, indicating it hadn’t dissolved properly. 

“It smelled different, like gone-off milk that had been left out for a day,” mum Rosie Menzies, told the BBC.

She elaborated that her newborn would get sick after a feed. Eventually, the baby rejected the bottle until she switched to a different brand of milk.

Meanwhile, another mum who has a three-month-old baby girl, explains that even though she followed the new mixing instructions, the milk was still not right. 

“It took a lot of effort and shaking to get it to mix properly. Even after a minute or so of vigorous shaking, the milk still had gritty residue on the sides of the bottle, but just increased the amount of froth on the top as a result,” she told the BBC. 

However, not all mothers had these complaints.

One mum told the BBC that her four-month-old baby had successfully transitioned from breastmilk to Aptamil First Infant Milk. She explains, “Coming from a science background, I’d rather look at things analytically, than just jumping on hysteria.”

Another mum – Courtney Wheeldon – says her 17-week-old son who was born prematurely, “appears a lot more content and happy… he’s putting on a lot more much-needed weight.” 

In response to the Aptamil baby milk complaints, Danone UK reassures parents that they are looking into the matter.

Danone is investigating the complaints, also saying that they had carried out, “extensive safety checks”. 

According to a statement from Danone UK as reported by the BBC:

“We would like to reassure parents that the quality and safety of our products is our number one priority. We have recently introduced new Aptamil formulations and we recognise that some families have not found the transition to the new formula easy.”

Danone insists the formula safe:

“We have undertaken extensive quality and safety checks, including clinical trials, product testing and product experience tests on these products. The results have shown that babies take to this formula well and that it is safe.

“We have updated the mixing instructions on our packs as this new formula requires parents to mix it up slightly differently, compared to the previous formulation – specifically, shaking vigorously for 10 seconds to dissolve the powder.”

However, Danone did not elaborate as to why the baby milk formula recipes were changed, says the BBC.  

We reached out to Danone Singapore to find out if Aptamil baby formula in Singapore has changed, too.  

Danone Nutricia Early Life Nutrition confirmed that currently, this product is not on the market in Singapore. 

So mums and dads, there’s nothing to worry about. But it’s always good to educate yourselves on safe formula feeding practices.

Please read this article to learn more: Safe formula feeding: Do’s and don’ts for parents

Reference: BBC