Swiss food giant Nestlé has acknowledged that it waited several days for a health-risk assessment before alerting authorities after detecting a toxin in baby milk produced at one of its factories in the Netherlands.

The company recalled batches of infant formula across 16 European countries in December after detecting cereulide, a bacterial toxin that can cause diarrhoea and vomiting.

According to a report by French newspaper Le Monde on Friday, traces of cereulide were identified in late November—about 10 days before the first recall—because Nestlé opted to await a formal “health-risk analysis” before notifying regulators.

In a statement published online, Nestlé confirmed that routine quality checks at its Dutch plant in late November 2025 detected “very low levels” of cereulide shortly after new equipment was installed at the facility.

The company noted that no regulatory maximum limit currently exists for cereulide. Following the discovery, Nestlé said it immediately halted production and conducted additional testing. Early December results confirmed minute quantities of the toxin in products that had not yet left the warehouse.

Nestlé said it formally informed Dutch, European, and other national authorities on December 10, and subsequently launched a precautionary recall of all products manufactured since the installation of the new equipment, amounting to 25 batches distributed across 16 countries.

The company reiterated that the recall was due to a “quality issue” and maintained that it had no evidence linking the products to illness.

However, French authorities have opened an investigation following the deaths of two infants in December and January who were believed to have consumed possibly contaminated powdered milk.

Responding to the investigation, Nestlé said, “Nothing indicates any link between these tragic events in these two instances and the consumption of our products.”