French dairy giant Lactalis's salmonella-tainted milk may have infected more babies than previously thought, with the scandal now appearing to have stretched back over 10 years. The company’s CEO has issued a first apology.

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Lactalis has been engulfed in scandal since December when authorities ordered a massive international recall of the baby milk that left at least 38 babies ill in France and Spain last year.

A French health research institute said on Thursday that a further 25 babies had fallen ill between 2006 and 2016.

The Institut Pasteur, which is France’s reference centre for monitoring salmonella, said the 25 cases were in addition to the 38 cases reported in late 2017 and the 141 in 2005 that were contaminated by “Salmonella Agona”, a bacteria found in baby milk produced by the Craon Lactalis factory in northwest France.

Firm speaks out

Lactalis CEO Emmanuel Besnier said Thursday that tests between the two outbreaks had found the same bacteria at the factory, though not in the milk.

"We can't exclude the possibility that some babies drank contaminated milk during this period," he admitted.

The CEO issued the company’s first apology for the scandal on Thursday.

Lactalis recalled 12 million tins in France and around the world after babies were taken ill last year after drinking salmonella-contaminated milk from the Craon factory.

Salmonella causes fever and diarrhoea in infants, along with vomiting in some cases, which can lead to babies being hospitalised for dehydration.

The French dairy giant is under fire after the discovery that its baby milk formula continued to be sold after the December recall.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)

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