All-clear for baby milk powder: "Kassensturz" test finds no toxins

Martin Jungfer

10-4-2026

Translation: machine translated

It should go without saying that milk powder should be free from harmful substances. At the beginning of the year, a number of products were recalled because they were not. But now everything should be fine again.

On behalf of the SRF consumer magazine «Kassensturz», a laboratory tested ten infant formula milk products from well-known manufacturers. The result is pleasing: no toxins were found in any of them, including the bacterial toxin cereulide. This was discovered in January and February and caused one of the biggest recalls in history at Nestlé, Danone and other manufacturers.

«Kassensturz» last tested baby milk powder in 2016 and 2021. This year the results are particularly positive. «Manufacturers are making progress overall in terms of harmful substances», it says.

Specifically, the laboratory found no harmful substances in four of the ten products tested. The substances analysed included glycidol, 3-MCPD, chlorate and mineral oil residues. The editorial team at «Kassensturz» gave all four of these products the top score of 6.0, i.e. «very good». The following infant formula products are available in our shop, as well as the «Bio Anfangsmilch 1» from Migros, which is not available from us.

Pollutants below the limit values, grade «sufficient»

The other six products tested contained harmful substances, for example traces of 3-MCPD. This is a potentially carcinogenic fatty acid ester that is produced during the refining of vegetable oils. Chlorate as a residue of disinfectants was also detected. However, the values for both pollutants were «well below the permitted limits», writes «Kassensturz». Specifically, they were around half of the «tolerable daily intake», as defined by the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa). Nevertheless, there was a devaluation in the test table. These products achieved a score of 4.5, i.e. only a «sufficient» score.

We do not carry the Müller drugstore chain's formula milk, which also scored «sufficient» in our range.

Tail light thanks to glycidol

Beba Bio Pre from Nestlé was the only formula milk to receive the grade «unsatisfactory». The reason: in addition to 3-MCPD and chlorate, another substance was also found in the laboratory, namely glycidyl ester. This substance breaks down in the body to glycidol and is carcinogenic and genotoxic. There is no official limit value for this, but according to «Kassensturz», no safe value has been set. Although the traces found were very small, Nestlé's infant milk was nevertheless devalued.

Nestlé finds this unsurprisingly unfair. The company does not agree with «» , according to the company's comment on the test. Parents can be sure that «all our products are safe to consume and fully comply with Swiss and EU legislation.»

We do not carry the «unsatisfactory» tested Beba Bio Pro in our shop, instead you will find the number 1 formula milk, which is for slightly older babies.

Situation calms down after supply bottlenecks

After the recalls in January and February, Galaxus customers obviously didn't wait for the «Kassensturz» test. Overall, the recalls did not trigger a sustained slump in sales, says Mara Agnelli, Senior Category Business Manager responsible. Various supply bottlenecks and availability problems in February have largely been overcome. Customers switched to other brands and products during this time. Sales are now growing significantly again compared to the previous year.

However, there have been some shifts within the brands, as the sales data show. Bimbosan products currently occupy nine of the top ten places when sorted by «Most sold», for example.

Only Aptamil breaks the Bimbosan dominance. The brand had poor availability in some areas in February and is currently slowly recovering. At Bimbosan, only one product, goat's milk, was affected by the recalls and the brand has generally made very good gains, says Mara. It is possible that many parents switched to this brand after the recalls by the larger companies. Holle may have benefited for the same reason.

Harsh clarification of the Cereulid scandal

Even several months after the first occurrence of toxins, there is little to no information on how the contaminated baby milk powder came about. According to research by SRF, the major companies, such as Danone and Nestlé, are delaying or failing to carry out the necessary analyses and investigations. The Chinese supplier of the crucial raw material ARA oil also continues to remain silent.

At least Switzerland wants to be better prepared for possible future cases. There are parliamentary initiatives to tighten the rules for warnings, similar to those already in place in the EU.

Martin Jungfer

Head of Content

Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment. more

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