Thank goodness for Helena Bottemiller.
Full Story at https://foodfix.co/federal-court-halts-snap-restriction-pilots-in-five-states/
Here is her story that just broke.
Nara Organics, the formula company that recently recalled its entire production history after three infant botulism cases were linked to its products, used the same whole milk powder supplier as ByHeart – the formula company linked to dozens of infant botulism hospitalizations last year – according to industry sources.
Nara Organics products are made in Germany, but the company began using whole milk from Organic West and Dairy Farmers of America when it first started producing formula as it searched for an EU-based supplier. During that time, Organic West supplied the fluid milk, and DFA’s plant in Fallon, NV, turned the milk into powder, Nara Organics confirmed to Food Fix.
These two dairy companies are the same suppliers that were identified in the ByHeart outbreak investigation. The suppliers were first identified in January 2026 by JoNel Aleccia at the Associated Press and were later confirmed by FDA.
“From October 2024 to April 2025, Nara sourced organic whole milk powder from a large, U.S. organic whole milk supplier for infant formula ingredients, Organic West, that was dried by DFA at a facility in Fallon, Nevada used by many formula companies,” the company said in a statement Monday. “When Nara learned from media reports earlier this year that ByHeart also used these suppliers, we immediately began a rigorous review to determine the safety of Nara’s existing formula. The review determined that Nara formula met and exceeded all the microbiological and other contaminant safety requirements of the FDA. It also met all US and EU food safety standards.”
(To clarify here: Nara Organics had already switched to an EU Organic dairy supplier by the time this news about the suppliers broke, but some of the formula that was made with the Organic West/DFA milk powder was still on the market.)
Nara Organics said in a statement it has always followed “the strictest testing protocols recommended by the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications on Food for the screening of c. botulism using sulphite reducing clostridia (SRC) with specifications even stricter than those recommended by ICMSF. Each batch of Nara infant formula is tested 3 times for SRC – once on the powdered milk ingredients, once on the formula powder before canning, and once on the finished canned formula.”
“We are heartbroken by the infant botulism cases and remain committed to working with the FDA, CDC and state health authorities to identify the root cause,” the company added.
DFA weighs in: I asked Dairy Farmers of America about this news. “DFA does not supply whole milk powder directly to Nara Organics (Nara) or any other infant formula manufacturers,” the company said in a statement to Food Fix. “A Nara supplier utilized DFA’s Fallon, Nev., facility to process a portion of its organic milk supply into a powder ingredient. We understand that Nara purchased this ingredient from the organic supplier and combined it with ingredients from other suppliers, further processing it in its manufacturing plant into a finished infant formula product.”
“The Fallon plant does not produce infant formula or perform the 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.”
Zooming out: The revelation that Nara Organics and ByHeart shared the same supplier raises new questions about FDA and the industry’s handling of the botulism outbreak last year. The agency in June said it is still investigating the root cause of last year’s outbreak, and it still has not released the results of its inspection of the DFA plant in Fallon.
HHS did not respond to a request for comment. Organic West couldn’t be reached for comment.
