French Dairy Giant Has CNCA Registration Suspended

On 5th of December, CNCA published a notice about the suspension of the overseas manufacturer qualification of Celia-Laiterie De Craon. This decision followed the French Ministry of Health and Solidarity announcement of the emergency recall of 12 batches of Lait Picot SL, Pepti Junior and Milumel Bio formulae for suspected Salmonella contamination. So far, the mentioned products haven’t been exported to China through normal trade channels and their manufacturer (owned by the French dairy giant Lactalis group) won’t be able to do so unless their CNCA accreditation is reinstated. This will also significantly impact their formula registration. 

Celia-Laiterie De Craon is not the first foreign infant formula manufacturer to get their CNCA registration suspended and are the latest in a list which includes HOCHDORF Swiss Nutrition Ltd, Austrian Agrana Stärke GmbH and German Töpfer GmbH to name a few. The length of suspensions varies considerably and it is unclear how long this suspension will affect the French company as this will depend on the duration and outcome of CNCA investigations. However it is noteworthy to mention that microbial contamination is one of the most serious breaches of safety compliance a manufacturer can make so we can expect a drawn out investigation process.   

Since the start of the registration process of overseas IF manufacturers   in 2014, CNCA has approved over 90 overseas infant formula enterprises from 19 countries.