Note the last paragraph :)
norma


http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer&cid=1068446565256

A female employee at German food manufacturer Humana is under investigation for manslaughter by negligence, German public prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Imported locally by Israeli company and H. J. Heinz Co. subsidiary Remedia Ltd., the kosher soy-based milk substitute likely caused the deaths of at least two Israeli babies, and serious nerve damage to some 15 others.

Other employees at Humana Milchunion's plant in Everswinkel, Germany are also likely to be questioned, as manufacturing involves a variety of sections within the plant.

German and Israeli police are cooperating in the case, and Germany's Minister of Consumer Protection, Food & Agriculture, Renate Kuenast, has requested a quick and thorough investigation.

On Tuesday, Humana's Chief Executive Officer
Albert Grosse Frie took full responsibility for the missing vitamin content, saying it was a result of compounded "human error".

Humana said the two forerunners to the product were improperly analyzed, leading to a miscalculation in the amount of vitamin B1 in the product.

"This is a one-time sequence of unfortunate circumstances," he wrote in an e-mailed statement.

He said the company planned unspecified "organizational and personnel" consequences. "It is with shock that we have watched the news and the pictures out of Israel... Our thoughts are with the children, the mothers and the families," he said at a news conference at Humana's German headquarters in Herford.

"We will make every effort for very good cooperation and transparency and openness in order to get back the confidence which surely has been lost." he said, adding that "the product has been stopped and we will get in contact with our partner Remedia to discuss the future."

In Israel, Remedia officials said they had requested minor changes in the fat composition of the formula but were completely unaware that the manufacturer had changed it drastically.

There are grounds for suspecting criminality in the case, Police Asst. Cmdr. Avi Manzur told Army Radio on Tuesday, and police have confiscated documents from both Remedia and the Health Ministry.

Remedia officials were questioned under caution Wednesday by a special investigating team - CEO Gili Landsberger for ten hours - after police confiscated computers and documents from its Rishon Lezion headquarters. However, it was suggested that company officials may have had time to alter computer data during the 48 hours between the Health Ministry's revelation of the formula's connection to the deaths. It is not clear whether police investigators will go to Germany to interrogate Humana officials.

Health Ministry Director-General Dr. Boaz
Lev suggested criminal intent. "All changes must be reported, especially when there is a substantive change in the product," he told Israel Radio. "We are speaking here of a crime."

He rejected criticism of the ministry's checks of import food products. "We take samples from 30% of all food products; this is very rigorous, compared to the US rate of one percent," he said.

Lev added that the ministry deals with food companies that receive Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification after passing a long series of examinations, "Since the ministry cannot check all the foods, manufacturers and importers are responsible for having them checked," he said.

The ministry said that there are "signs" pointing to Remedia's knowledge of the changes Humana made, Israel Radio and Channel 1 reported Tuesday night.

Humana is one of the largest food companies in Germany, with an annual turnover of some 3 billion euros. It remained tightlipped for the first 48 hours after the scandal broke.

The conditions of the seven infants who remain hospitalized (at the Schneider Children's Medical Center for Israel in Petah Tikva and Ha'emek Medical Center in Afula) are improving. Three infants in Schneider's intensive care unit are now breathing without a respirator and gradually regaining consciousness.

B1 is kosher throughout the year

Responding to accusations that kosher specifications were responsible for the decision to remove the vitamin B1 from the soy-based baby formula, Rabbi Yosef Miller, director general of the Rabbi Landau Kashrut office in Bnei Berak which gives the kosher authorization for the Remedia baby formula, told the Jerusalem Post Tuesday that the removal of the B1 vitamin was not done as a result of Kosher requirements.

"We never made a request to remove the B1 vitamin," Miller said. "B1 is kosher during the year and also for Passover."

Miller said that his office is only responsible for the Kashrut and "is not involved in the ingredients."

Lawsuits

Over NIS 1 billion shekels worth of class-action and individual lawsuits have already been filed against Remedia, Humana, and others involved in the death and hospitalization of infants. There remain seven Israeli infants hospitalized with neurological or cardiological symptoms and complications.

Ahuva Ticho, a former Maccabi Health Services lawyer acting on behalf of some families of Remedia users, said Monday that that there is a legal case for criminal negligence against the German manufacturer Humana, the Israeli importer Remedia, and others involved in the scandal.

She added that the Health Ministry, which is responsible for supervision of manufactured and imported food quality, could also be held liable for damages. The ministry denies blame, saying that the companies changed the formula for the product without informing it and asking for a new license.

State Attorney Edna Arbel ordered the police to open an immediate investigation of the baby formula case. After receiving all the available data from ministry officials, who maintained that the formula did not have the vitamin claimed on the package, she said the material indicates that crimes may have been committed.

Speaking from Schneider Hospital, Ilan Bracha, whose son guy has been hospitalized for a week and a half, says he is "none too impressed with Remedia's media tricks" and the company's attempts to pass responsibility along.

A consultant at Remedia noted on Channel One that three quarters of the company's employees with babies used the formula at home.

Germany's Consumer Affairs Ministry appealed to all baby-formula manufacturers to check the composition of their formula. "We have to ensure other makers have not made similar mistakes," said a spokesman.

Back to the breast

Meanwhile, with the growing interest in breastfeeding among mothers, Yad Sarah announced that it has various models of electric mother's milk pumps available for lending out free at all its 100 branches around the country. The Swiss and Italian models meet European standards and will allow women going to work to express their milk and have it fed to their babies by bottle.

The Israel Lactation Consultant Association has decided to hold an open-house clinical day on Wednesday, with free support to breastfeeding mothers. The counsellors are available around the country. Call 09-8858256, 02-5325383 and 08-9731719 for more information.


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