Three Israeli infants have died and at least 20 have been diagnosed with central nervous system damage after being fed Remedia brand baby formula. Israeli investigators have determined that the formula, which is manufactured in Germany, is lacking the essential nutrient vitamin B-1.
Humana, the German manufacturer, insists that the formula does contain B-1. A Der Spiegel report indicates that Humana produces a special batch of the formula for the Israeli market, which is supervised for Kashrut by a team of Rabbis. Israeli law enforcement and intelligence agencies have not yet ruled out the possibility of sabotage.
Meanwhile, in a possibly unrelated development, the Europeasers at the UN are expected to abstain on a General Assembly vote to condemn terrorist attacks on Israeli children
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at November 10, 2003 05:11 PMAn article in a U.K. newspaper says that the Germans are hinting the formula was sabotaged.
If true....
Posted by: Meryl Yourish on November 10, 2003 08:35 PMThis story has dominated the news over here for the last couple of days.
Sorry to be non-cynical, but I don't buy the sabotage theory. I think what we have here is a series of screwups and sloppy business practices which have led to the deaths of 3 babies and brain damage to at least a half dozen others.
You have Remedia, an Israeli company, who decided to change the composition of its baby formula (I'm guessing as a cost-cutting measure).
The formula was produced by a German company, who either screwed up or intentionally sabotaged the prodcut by not adding vitamin B1.
Now, whether or not you buy the sabotage theory or not (I don't), the Israeli company here is still mainly to blame for a) Not doing proper QA on the new formula and b) Not informing the Israeli Ministry of Health that they'd changed the formula (which would have led the ministry to test the new product).
Luckily, this thing was caught before it killed any more children. There's still a lot of investigating to be done to find out what exactly happened, but I'm pretty sure that between the bad press, government investigations, and class-action lawsuits, Remedia will be out of business within 2 months.
Posted by: Shai on November 10, 2003 11:41 PMHumana, the German manufacturer, has now admitted its error.
Posted by: Scott on November 11, 2003 11:44 AM