Supermarket shelves are being left empty of baby formula following recent recalls by Nestlé and Danone of lines contaminated with cereulide toxin.
Analysis of The Grocer’s data shows infant formula out-of-stocks have rocketed from three at the start of 2026 to 94 out of 334 products (28.1%) sold across the traditional big four supermarkets [Assosia 1 January vs 11 February 2026].
Asda appears to have been particularly impacted by availability issues, with 66 out of 88 (75%) lines showing as out of stock this week. By contrast, only seven out of 75 (9.3%) lines were unavailable in Tesco.
Frustrated parents have taken to X to complain they have struggled to find their preferred formula.
“I’ve just been to a local Asda and can’t find any Cow & Gate,” one shopper posted to the social media site.
“We weren’t planning to move little one onto stage 2 milk but we might have to just so we’ve actually got something to feed her,” she added.
I’ve just been to a local Asda and can’t find any cow&gate 🥲 we weren’t planning to move little one onto stage 2 milk but we might have to just so we’ve actually got something to feed her
— Sophie Rose 🥀 (@RosesForSoph) February 10, 2026
Another shopper posted: “We went into six shops yesterday just to find Aptamil for the little one.
“Found one left in Boots & got ready made stuff in Tesco. We now have two weeks’ supply at the maximum. Hopefully new batches will start to come out soon.”
A third shopper posting to Reddit speculated that, following Nestlé’s initial recall of various SMA lines in January, parents had “panic bought all the other brands”. This had exacerbated further availability issues triggered by Danone’s subsequent recall of Aptamil and Cow & Gate products last week, they said.
Restocks to come
Andrew Opie, director of food & sustainability at the BRC, said: “Following a recall notice from the Food Standards Agency, retailers have removed some Danone infant formula from their shelves.
“Retailers are working closely with suppliers to restock with replacement product as soon as possible.”
A spokeswoman for Danone North Europe confirmed availability of some Aptamil and Cow & Gate products was “temporarily affected after the recall of specific batches last Friday”.
“These checks are now largely complete and Aptamil and Cow & Gate are back on shelves, with any remaining gaps being replenished shortly.
“All products currently available for purchase are safe to use.
“We understand how important it is for parents to access the products they rely on. If parents are unable to find stock in their local store, we ask them to contact our Careline team who can help,” the spokeswoman added.
A Nestlé spokeswoman said: “We are working hard to address potential shortages to ensure that stock is back on shelves as soon as possible.”
“Production at all our infant formula factories is running at full capacity and we are focused on increasing the availability of infant formula, providing parents and families with high quality products they can trust.
“All SMA stock currently on shelf is not affected by the recent recall.”
Tesco advised that it had good availability across a wide range of baby formula in stores and online, while Sainsbury’s said it had ensured there was always safe infant milk products available to purchase in its stores.
Morrisons declined to comment, while Asda and Nestlé had not responded by the time of writing.
Cases of illness
The UK Health Security Agency said last week it had been made aware of 36 cases of children developing symptoms consistent with cereulide toxin poisoning across the UK, after consuming baby formula from the affected batches.
Both Nestlé and Danone maintain no causal link has been established between their recalled products and cases of illness in babies.
Meanwhile, the French health authorities have been made aware of three reports of infant deaths relating to children who had consumed formula products impacted by recalls over cereulide toxin fears.
In France, the recalls also impact formula products made by Nestlé and Danone, but also Lactalis, which supplies the Picot brand.
To date, no causal link has been scientifically established between the contaminated formulas and infant deaths.
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