Nutricia widens infant formula recall

WELLINGTON -- Infant formula company Nutricia issued a wider recall of two of its products late Monday, after new information from the country's leading multinational dairy company Fonterra.

Nutricia said on its website that it has changed its recall from a voluntary recall of limited batches of two Karicare products, to a full, voluntary recall.

The company said all batches of Karicare Stage 1 New Baby Infant Formula and Karicare Gold Plus Stage 2 Follow On Formula are being recalled.

It said none of the products tested and sold in New Zealand indicate any contamination.

New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industry welcomed Nutricia's latest decision.

"It's critical that any products that are a potential risk to public health are removed until we can be assured they are safe," the ministry's director Scott Gallacher said. "At this time we don 't know which products are potentially contaminated and because of that uncertainty a recall is prudent."

In a related development, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said on Monday there will be a probe into Fonterra.

Key told a press conference that it was likely two inquiries would result from the issue, including one into Fonterra. "They will need to answer some questions around the length of time it took for all of us to know, the processes it went through from when it first identified there could be an issue to when it was brought into the public domain, to their general approach to the issue."

He said the second inquiry was likely to be into how food safety regime and systems had responded.