Baby’s organic porridge found to contain traces of harmful drug

Brands of baby food which are sold in health food shops are being recalled by the manufacturer because they can make children sick.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has advised parents not to give certain Holle and Lebenswert products to their children, but, instead, to bring them back to where they were purchased.

The products involved are mostly sold in health and organic shops.

The Swiss manufacturers of both products have issued a warning after two natural occurring substances, atropine and scopolamine, were found within them.

Scopolamine, a naturally occurring substance in plants, is also often used as a date rape drug in South America where large quantities of it are associated with memory loss. The traces of the drug  found in the baby food were minimal.

The alert has been issued on an EU-wide basis by the European Commission.

A FSAI spokeswoman said the products are not life-threatening but can cause nasty short-term side effects.

These include dilated pupils, change of heart rate, dryness of the mouth, constipation, urinary retention, and flushed skin.

All batches of the following products are being recalled:

Holle Organic Millet Porridge Apple-Pear (pack size: 250g)

Holle Organic Millet Porridge with Rice (pack size: 250g)

Holle Organic Milk Porridge Millet (pack size: 250g)

Holle Organic Holle Organic 3-Grain Porridge (pack size: 250g)

Millet and Rice Whole Wheat Porridge (Lebenswert bio Hirse & Reis Vollkornbrei)

The FSAI operates an Advice Line on 1890 33 66 77 from 9.00am-5.00pm, Monday to Friday.