https://www.nbcnews.com/health/recall/byheart-baby-formula-recalled-state-outbreak-infant-botulism-rcna242783

Recall of baby formula reportedly contaminated with botulinum toxin.

Honey has been another source of the issue. . https://www.nature.com/articles/7211651

That's paywalled, you can download or read it from here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6490925_Infant_botulism

The correlation certainly needs a little more probing. Most of the reported cases were in infants not using ByHeart. And I can't find any record of powdered formulas ever containing botulinum.

I'd be more concerned about the organic feed the cows are getting. Ever since Robert Bilott broke the PFAS story around the turn of the century, I've heard some horror stories about organic farms using sewage sludge that was contaminated heavily with some kind of PFAS. I hope that this has gotten rarer since all the big penalties and settlements with DuPont, 3M, Saint Gobain, et al. and attendant phaseouts, but there are still shorter chain PFAS out there that haven't gotten regulated or banned. Even TFA, the ultrashort chain stuff, has several kinds of nasty going.

On 11/10/2025 at 8:47 PM, TheVat said:

The correlation certainly needs a little more probing. Most of the reported cases were in infants not using ByHeart. And I can't find any record of powdered formulas ever containing botulinum.

I'd be more concerned about the organic feed the cows are getting. Ever since Robert Bilott broke the PFAS story around the turn of the century, I've heard some horror stories about organic farms using sewage sludge that was contaminated heavily with some kind of PFAS. I hope that this has gotten rarer since all the big penalties and settlements with DuPont, 3M, Saint Gobain, et al. and attendant phaseouts, but there are still shorter chain PFAS out there that haven't gotten regulated or banned. Even TFA, the ultrashort chain stuff, has several kinds of nasty going.

PFAS Chemistry worth a thread on its own.

On 11/10/2025 at 8:47 PM, TheVat said:

And I can't find any record of powdered formulas ever containing botulinum.

No word here on that and the Press love a good Botulism story. Just one case can make a headline. 

Edited November 12Nov 12 by pinball1970
PFAS

6 hours ago, pinball1970 said:

No word here on that and the Press love a good Botulism story. Just one case can make a headline. 

Indeed. And doesn't botulinum require moisture? Last I checked, baby formulae like ByHeart's are dry powders.

1 hour ago, TheVat said:

Indeed. And doesn't botulinum require moisture? Last I checked, baby formulae like ByHeart's are dry powders.

Yes moisture too.

4 hours ago, TheVat said:

Indeed. And doesn't botulinum require moisture? Last I checked, baby formulae like ByHeart's are dry powders.

To function, but not to survive. Add moisture and they'll start.

A nasty little genus to humans historically.

Cl difficile - Serious hospital infection of the gut

Cl perfringens - Gangrene

Cl botulinum - botulism

Cl tetani - tetanus

7 hours ago, StringJunky said:

To function, but not to survive. Add moisture and they'll start.

True, though I'm still a bit puzzled, given that milk used in infant formulae has to be pasteurized. So I wouldn't think there would be much of a starter colony going into the dehydrator, let alone afterward. It could slip in from somewhere else, maybe with an additive. Will be disturbing if this does turn out to be the source of the botulism. Infant food companies usually don't feck around when it comes to sterilization. Given the rudimentary immune system, the liability issues are massive.

Just came across this in AP: https://apnews.com/article/byheart-baby-formula-recall-botulism-679c822667df767a278b166c7142e68f

The formula uses 'organic' sources. I wonder if that might be a clue?

18 hours ago, TheVat said:

True, though I'm still a bit puzzled, given that milk used in infant formulae has to be pasteurized. So I wouldn't think there would be much of a starter colony going into the dehydrator, let alone afterward. It could slip in from somewhere else, maybe with an additive. Will be disturbing if this does turn out to be the source of the botulism. Infant food companies usually don't feck around when it comes to sterilization. Given the rudimentary immune system, the liability issues are massive.

Most likely the formulation contained spores. The toxin itself can be deactivated by cooking, and Clostridium botulinum itself is not terribly hardy and it is an obligate anaerobe (i.e. does not survive oxygen). Spores, however are fairly hardy and can survive drying very well and are fairly heat resistant. They can be inactivated by prolonged autoclaving and potentially heating for an extended amount of time. However they usual inactivation times typical for bacteria which are required for food preparation, will be insufficient.

Most likely, sufficient spores survived the process to cause infections in infant guts (but I would need to read up the reports to see what was actually found).

1 hour ago, StringJunky said:

The formula uses 'organic' sources. I wonder if that might be a clue?

Unlikely, the production requirements should be identical.

19 minutes ago, CharonY said:

Unlikely, the production requirements should be identical.

Right.