In this weeks BMJ, Sara Bernard, The Netherlands. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/327/7425/1186-d?etoc Manager at baby food company is under investigation for manslaughter Vienna Jane Burgermeister German state prosecutors have launched an investigation into a manager at the baby food manufacturer Humana after the deaths of two infants in Israel (BMJ 15 November, News extra). Harald Krahmüller, spokesman for the state prosecution office in Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, said that the head of Humana’s product development department was expected to be charged with manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm after she failed to ensure that a non-dairy baby formula made for sale only in Israel was submitted to independent quality control measures. The police are also questioning other staff at the Herford based company—one of the largest baby food manufacturers in Europe—after a series of errors that allowed baby food without vitamin B-1 to go on sale in Israel. The investigation comes as it emerged that doctors in Germany had lodged a complaint about Humana’s "totally misleading advertising" in July. The German Association for Children’s Healthcare and Youth Medicine had written to the state’s regulatory agency, urging it to use its powers to scrutinise the standards at the baby food manufacturer. A paediatrician from the association, Berthold Koletzko, said that the lives of the infants in Israel could have been saved if the authorities had implemented a new EU directive ordering all new recipes for baby food to be submitted to quality control measures at independent laboratories before being sold. After the public outcry, authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia have promised a massive reorganisation of the 18 agencies currently responsible for scrutinising food standards. In another blow to Humana, Russia last Thursday announced a ban of all of Humana’s products, as well as those of Remedia, Humana’s partner in Israel. The Russian government’s chief epidemiologist, Gennadi Onischtschenko, went on television to say that Humana and Remedia’s products would be submitted to independent tests to determine whether they contained enough of the vital vitamin B-1. *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html