Comment by awakeasleep
20 days ago
The article doesnt contain any detail, so if anyone else is curious:
Cereulide is a toxin produced by some strains of Bacillus cereus, a common environmental bacterium found in soil, dust, and raw agricultural materials.
Cereulide acts on cells’ mitochondria and can cause rapid-onset symptoms like vomiting, stomach cramps, and diarrhea.
During manufacturing, raw ingredients used in baby formula such as oils (e.g., arachidonic acid, or ARA oil) or dry powders can be contaminated with spores of B. cereus or pre-formed cereulide.
Because spores and the toxin survive processing, they must be prevented by testing ingredients before inclusion.
In the threads I see people focusing on the origin of the contaminated material. I think that misses the point that you have to deal with this by testing at the point where the ingredients are assembled into a final product, because it can’t be removed from whatever feed stock creates the individual ingredients.
Of course, ideally the manufacturer of the component ingredient also does the testing but in manufacturing you never trust your suppliers- you need your own testing engineers if you are putting your brand on the product and taking responsibility for it.