A2 Milk is withdrawing product in the US as part of a voluntary recall.
Shares in dual-listed a2 Milk were sold off after the company said it had started a voluntary recall of three batches of a2 Platinum USA label infant milk formula because of the presence of the toxin cereulide.
The product, which was sold only in the United States, was made by Synlait Milk.
A2 Milk said the product was distributed through a2 Milk’s website, Amazon and Meijer stores as part of the Operation Fly Formula programme.
Operation Fly was undertaken in 2022 by the Biden administration to import formula to alleviate a shortage caused by safety issues at US manufacturer Abbott.
A2 Milk said its US importation rights expired on December 31, 2025, and the product had been discontinued and removed from sale prior to the initiation of the recall.
The product was made in compliance with all relevant standards at the time.
By early afternoon, a2 Milk shares had dropped by $1.11 (12.5%) to $7.79, wiping $834 million from the company’s market capitalisation.
Synlait shares were down by half a cent to 42c.
The recall follows other product recalls for cereulide from major food groups Nestle, Danone and Lactalis early this year.
In a2 Milk’s case, the recall was initiated after cereulide was detected through additional testing of the product following the release of NZ Ministry for Primary Industries industry update and expectations for managing cereulide on April 15.
The probable source of cereulide is an ingredient in the product, a2 Milk said.
No confirmed incidents of infant illness or harm have been reported to the company, it said.
In circumstances where cereulide affects consumers, symptoms typically develop within 30 minutes to six hours of ingestion and most often involve gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea and vomiting that typically self-resolve within 24 hours.
A2 Milk said it was communicating with the US Food and Drug Administration with respect to the recall and had released guidance to its United States consumers about actions they should take if they have purchased the product.
The recall is isolated to the USA label product, which has a different formulation and relevant ingredient to the English label a2 Platinum infant formula sold in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Vietnam and through cross-border channels into China.
The company said all a2 Platinum product sold outside the United States was unaffected.
“The recall is in relation to a relatively small quantity of three batches of the product comprising 63,078 tins in total with an estimated 16,428 tins sold to consumers, with total USA IMF sales accounting for about 0.1% of the company’s total sales revenue in the first half of 2026,” the company said.
The recall is not expected to impact the company’s financial results.
In supplied comments, a2 Milk chief executive David Bortolussi said the food safety and quality of its products was its “highest” priority.
“For this reason, we have voluntarily recalled three batches of our a2 Platinum USA label infant milk formula sold only in the US which had previously been discontinued with no products currently available for sale.
“I want to reassure parents and caregivers that our infant milk formula products sold in Australia and New Zealand, China and other markets are not impacted by this isolated recall in the US.”
Separately, Synlait, a2 Milk’s main supplier, said it was working with a2 Milk to assist its voluntary recall.
Synlait said it made the affected product in compliance with all relevant standards at the time.
The product was discontinued prior to the recall.
“Synlait takes a non-negotiable approach to food safety and quality and reported the cereulide detection as soon as it was known,” the company said.
The recall is not expected to impact Synlait’s financial result.
On March 13, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said multi-country recalls of infant formula and other products have been initiated after cereulide was detected in batches of multiple internationally distributed brands.
Investigations have identified arachidonic acid (ARA) oil, used as an ingredient in the implicated products, as the source of contamination, WHO said.
“However, the full root cause analysis and complete traceability of all affected batches remains under investigation,” it said.
Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets, the primary sector and energy. He joined the Herald in 2011.