Abbott infant formula recalled over botulism concerns

China's consumer quality watchdog has asked a Chinese arm of US infant formula producer Abbott Laboratories to recall two batches of potentially tainted milk powder over botulism concerns.

The action from China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) followed after it was alerted by the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing last night that two batches of Abbott-brand products manufactured by Fonterra may have been tainted by the botulinum bacteria.

Abbott said in a statement that these two batches of products were not made from contaminated raw materials from Fonterra, but they were packaged in Fonterra's production lines. The lines were not fully sanitized after producing tainted products.

Abbott has started preemptive recalls of two batches of Stage 3 infant formula manufactured on May 2, 2013.

The recalled products include 7,181 boxes, including 112 boxes that have already been sold. The remaining 7,069 boxes in inventory have been sealed, according to Abbott.

Consumers who purchased relevant products have been asked to contact the company, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Fonterra said last week that some of its whey protein concentrate was found to be contaminated with clostridium botulinum, a bacteria that can cause food poisoning.

The concentrate was used in products including infant milk powder and sports drinks.