A dad was left furious when he found out his vomiting baby girl was drinking milk which has been recalled over salmonella fears.
Danny Lovell, 32, was outraged when he realized he’d been feeding his poorly four-month-old daughter the potentially toxic formula milk – which was withdrawn from shelves this week.
Little Ocean-Rose had been in and out of the hospital with severe sickness, diarrhea, and fevers ever since being put on Alimentum Similac milk powder months ago.
But her confused parents were never given an answer as to why their tot was so sick.
The dad-of-five from Ingrow, West Yorkshire, had to face at least six sleepless nights in the hospital with the poorly tot – and he now believes it was caused by the formula milk.
And he wants to warn other parents who may be in his position after he and his partner Georgia found out about the recall on social media.
Furious Danny told The Sun Online: “Fuming is an understatement. I feel let down by the system.
“We’ve been pushed from pillar to post, in and out of the hospital, not being listened to.
“It’s like my daughter is being used as a pincushion. And we’re not getting any answers.”
Four-month-old Ocean-Rose was prescribed Alimentum Similac infant formula powder by doctors when she was just a few weeks old.
But the tot has been constantly ill ever since – and dad Danny said she would vomit every feed and looked so sickly that doctors thought she had jaundice.
Manufacturer Abbott this week issued an urgent recall for the milk products – which were believed to be potentially contaminated with salmonella.
One baby in the US has died after consuming the products, with fears that the formula milk was involved in the tragedy.
Batches of Elecare Similac and Alimentum Similac, which are usually only available via prescription, have now been withdrawn from shelves in the UK.
Recall fury
Salmonella can cause serious food poisoning, with symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps and a fever.
The “bubbly” newborn has had countless trips to the hospital in the last few months because of the issues, now thought to be caused by the milk.
Three weeks ago, he went to collect more formula for his daughter – but he was told by pharmacists that they didn’t have any stock because of a supply issue.
Danny was then forced to ask family and friends for the milk, which he believed his baby needed since he had not been warned by his local pharmacy.
It was only until Danny saw a post about the infant formula on social media that he found out about the potentially toxic milk – which left him feeling “let down” by doctors.
The dad-of-five is fuming that he wasn’t told that the milk he was feeding little Ocean-Rose was potentially contaminated with salmonella.
The 32-year-old added: “Finding out about it on social media was the biggest thing. The milk she’s on is prescribed, as far as we were concerned it was safe. It’s what they recommended.
“When I went to get some more, the doctors told us there was shortage they couldn’t get anymore.
“We went to family and friends to get a hold of some in the meantime, thinking it was a temporary thing.
“To our amazement and despair yesterday morning we woke up to posts on social media saying that this milk has been contaminated.
“To wake up to that, it’s mixed emotions – anger, hurt. Knowing that our daughter is irrelevant, she’s just an object to them.
Samonella fears
“To be told over social media that something so dangerous has happened and then we’ve had to do our own research to get doctors and pharmacists to clarify it.”
Since realizing on Friday morning, Danny and Georgia have switched their daughter’s milk and are feeding her a new formula – which she’s reacted well to.
The dad claims Ocean-Rose’s sickness has disappeared in just a few hours since she’s been on the new milk, and the constant vomiting, illness and pain has subsided.
Danny added: “When she’s herself, she’s bubbly, smiling, she is just the most adorable baby there is.
“She’s been in pain, she’s been constipated, had trapped wind. Every bottle she’s had, she’s thrown up.
“It’s not been fair for her. She’s gone through all of that at home, then in hospital, she’s been staying in over a number of times, having blood tests, under jaundice lights. It’s just not fair.
“I’ve already had a verbal altercation with a senior doctor. Basically, I’m disappointed we’ve been confirmed we were right.
“My aim now is to get it known to more parents.”
An Abbott spokesperson told The Sun Online: “We are sorry to hear about Mr. Lovell’s daughter and we hope she is doing well now.
“We value the trust parents place in us for high quality and safe nutrition and ensuring the safety and quality of our products is our top priority.
“Abbott conducts extensive quality checks on each completed batch of infant formula, including microbiological analysis prior to release.
“All infant formula products are tested for Cronobacter sakazakii, Salmonella Newport and other pathogens and they must test negative before any product is released.
“Importantly, no distributed product has tested positive for the presence of either of these bacteria, including retained samples related to the four U.S. complaints, and we continue to test.
“Alimentum and EleCare are the only Abbott products affected by this voluntary recall in the UK.”
Rajwinder Ubhi, head of incidents at the Food Standards Agency, said: “Parents and guardians should not feed any products included in the recall to their baby and should contact their doctor, midwife or pharmacist for advice if their child shows any symptoms of salmonella or cronobacter sakazakii.”
NHS North East and Yorkshire and Bradford District and Craven CCG did not respond when asked for a statement.
NHS England declined to comment.
This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission.