Nestlé 的事件源自荷兰 Nunspeet 工厂于 12 月初例行检测发现 cereulide 毒素；该毒素耐热、难以过滤，即使微量也可能引起呕吐、恶心、腹泻乃至更严重后果，因此通常只能全面召回并彻底清洁产线。此次召回已扩大到超过 60 个国家、涉及多品牌多品项；法国、比利时、巴西均出现与 Nestlé 产品相关的婴儿不适通报。市场层面也出现量化冲击：Nestlé 股价年初至今下跌 7.5%，Danone 在 1 月 21 日因新加坡下架公告出现逾三十年最大单日跌幅，年初至今下跌 14%；被指认为上游 ARA 油供应方的 Cabio Biotech Wuhan Co. 股价年初至今下跌 18%。
风险上移的核心在于更长、更碎片化的供应链与分散监管：ARA（arachidonic acid）等添加成分扩大使用，却常依赖跨国制度拼接与私人稽核；Rafael Perez-Escamilla 指出母乳含有数千种交互作用的活性物质，单独添加少数营养素可能带来非预期后果。供应端竞争加剧：DSM（现为 DSM-Firmenich 一部分）在 2011 年收购 Martek 后曾近似垄断，Cabio 依 2019 年 IPO 文件所述获得并商业化非专利发酵技术；其 2024 年被研究机构估计可供应 Nestlé 约五分之一（约 20%）的 ARA 需求。需求端的采用率也呈跳跃式变化：2020 年前约四分之一配方含 ARA，2020 年后约四分之三含 ARA。监管与公共卫生背景同样量化：WHO 指出 6 个月以下婴儿中，纯母乳喂养比例少于一半；全球配方奶粉市场 2025 年约 878 亿美元，并可能在 2034 年前「超过翻倍」。ByHeart 的召回在 11 月 8 日启动、11 月 11 日扩大到全部产品；疫情回溯至 2023 年 12 月以来共 51 名婴儿因确诊或疑似肉毒中毒住院，促使企业改以第三方对每批成品与供应链环节检测 *Clostridium botulinum* 孢子。
Global infant-formula contamination and recall events show a recurring pattern: as formula is engineered to be nutritionally closer to human milk, keeping it demonstrably safe becomes harder. France is investigating whether two infant deaths are linked to potentially tainted formula, while US health officials are investigating hospitalizations tied to formula from ByHeart Inc. In a market dominated by firms such as Nestlé SA, Danone SA, and Abbott Laboratories, the episodes expose structural tension between nutritional innovation and safety systems that do not scale at the same rate.
Nestlé’s crisis began with early-December routine testing at its Nunspeet, Netherlands plant that detected the toxin cereulide, which cannot be destroyed by heat, is too small to filter out, and can cause severe illness even at trace levels, leaving full recalls and deep cleaning as the practical response. The recall has expanded to more than 60 countries and many products across brands; authorities in France, and officials in Belgium and Brazil, have linked illnesses to Nestlé products, with the Guigoz brand under scrutiny in France. Quantified market fallout follows: Nestlé shares are down 7.5% year-to-date, Danone shares are down 14% after their biggest one-day drop in more than three decades on Jan. 21, and Cabio Biotech Wuhan Co.—identified by people familiar with the matter as an ARA-oil supplier—has seen shares fall 18% year-to-date.
The risk shift is upstream and cross-border: optional add-ins such as ARA (arachidonic acid) extend supply chains into ingredient makers that face fragmented oversight and heavy reliance on private audits. Supply competition accelerated after DSM’s near-monopoly following its 2011 Martek acquisition; Cabio’s 2019 IPO prospectus described a non-patented fermentation technology later commercialized, and by 2024 it was estimated to supply about a fifth (~20%) of Nestlé’s ARA needs. Adoption rates show a step change: before 2020 about one-fourth of formulas included ARA; after 2020 about three-fourths did. Public-health and regulatory metrics add context: the WHO reports fewer than half of infants under six months are exclusively breastfed, the global formula market was about $87.8 billion in 2025 and may more than double by 2034, and the ByHeart outbreak prompted a Nov. 8 recall expanded to all products on Nov. 11 with 51 hospitalized babies dating back to Dec. 2023, leading to third-party batch testing for *Clostridium botulinum* spores across the supply chain.