Thanks to Helena Bottemiller.
Full article at https://foodfix.co/federal-court-halts-snap-restriction-pilots-in-five-states/
Here’s her story from the just-broken story:
According to industry sources, Nara Organics, which recalled its entire production history after three recent cases of infant botulism were linked to its products, used the same whole powdered milk supplier as Byheart, a powdered milk company linked to dozens of infant botulism hospitalizations last year.
Nara Organics products are manufactured in Germany, but the company began using whole milk from Organic West and Dairy Farmers of America when it first began producing powdered milk while looking for an EU-based supplier. During that time, Organic West supplied liquid milk and the DFA plant in Fallon, Nevada turned the milk into powder, Nara Organics confirmed to Food Fix.
These two dairy companies are the same suppliers identified in the ByHeart outbreak investigation. The vendor was first identified by JoNel Aleccia of the Associated Press in January 2026 and later confirmed by the FDA.
“From October 2024 to April 2025, Nara sourced organic whole milk powder from Organic West, a large U.S. infant formula supplier, which was dried by DFA at its facility in Fallon, Nevada,” the company said in a statement Monday. “When Nara learned through media reports earlier this year that Byheart had also used these suppliers, we immediately began a rigorous review to determine the safety of Narra’s existing formulations. The review found that Nara’s formulations met and exceeded all of the FDA’s microbiological and other contaminant safety requirements. They also met all U.S. and EU food safety standards.”
(To be clear here, when this news about our suppliers broke, Nara Organics had already switched to an EU organic dairy supplier, but some of our recipes made with Organic West/DFA milk powder were still on the market.)
Nara Organics said in a statement, “We have always followed the most stringent testing protocols recommended by the Codex International Food and Microbiological Committee to test for c. botulism, using sulfite-reduced clostridium (SRC) of much more stringent specifications than those recommended by the ICMSF. Each batch of Nara infant formula is tested once for the powdered milk ingredients, once for the pre-canned formula, once for the finished canned formula and three times for the SRC. “We test it,” he said.
“We are heartbroken by these cases of infant botulism and remain committed to working with the FDA, CDC, and state health officials to determine the root cause,” he added.
DFA takes it seriously. I asked American dairy farmers about this news. “DFA does not directly supply whole milk powder to Nara Organic (Nara) or any other infant formula manufacturer,” DFA said in a statement to Food Fix. “Nara suppliers utilized DFA’s Fallon, Nev. facility to process a portion of their organic milk supply into powdered ingredients. We understand that Nara purchased these ingredients from organic suppliers, combined them with ingredients from other suppliers, and further processed them into finished infant formula products at its manufacturing plant.”
“The Fallon plant does not produce infant formula or perform any additional processing required for such products,” the company said. “All whole milk powder processed at the Fallon facility met all applicable food safety and quality standards as well as all legal and contractual obligations.”
Zoom out: The fact that Nara Organics and ByHeart share the same supplier raises new questions about the FDA and the industry’s handling of last year’s botulism outbreak. The agency said in June that it was still investigating the root cause of last year’s outbreak and had not yet released the results of an inspection at the DFA plant in Fallon.
HHS did not respond to a request for comment. Organic West could not be reached for comment.
