Large Dairy Supplier Warns of Botulism Threat HONG KONG - One of the world's leading suppliers of dairy products said Saturday that a type of bacteria that could cause botulism had been found in tests of ingredients the company sells for use in infant formula and sports drinks, and that it had warned companies that buy its products about the problem. Fonterra, the world's fourth-largest dairy company, sells its milk products to other companies that make infant formula, and said those companies would be responsible for any recalls. Officials would not name the companies it had issued warnings to, or what countries could be affected. Botulism is a rare but serious illness caused by Clostridium botulinum bacteria. Even tiny amounts of this toxin can lead to severe poisoning when consumed. "We are acting quickly," the New Zealand-based company's chief executive, Theo Spierings, said in a statement. Our focus is to get information out about potentially affected product as fast as possible so that it can be taken off supermarket shelves and, where it has already been purchased, can be returned. Infant formula from New Zealand is in huge demand in China, largely because of concerns about the quality of domestic formula there, particularly since milk formula tainted with melamine led to the deaths of several babies and sickened thousands more in 2008. Fonterra owned part of one of the companies involved in that scandal, but that company, Sanlu, was since shut down. After Fonterra raised alarms about the bacteria found in its milk products, Chinese officials urged companies that import Fonterra products to start an immediate recall and told local officials to increase inspections of dairy products from New Zealand, according to The Associated Press. Earlier this year, Fonterra launched a plan to sell its own infant formula in China, which included building an ultrahigh-temperature milk manufacturing plant there, aiming to sell a quarter-billion gallons of milk in the country by 2018, company officials told Chinese state media in April. At a news conference Saturday, Fonterra officials said Mr. Spierings, the chief executive, had been dispatched to China to deal with the scare. The company said the problem involved three batches of a whey protein concentrate produced at a single New Zealand manufacturing site in May 2012. Officials first noticed a quality-control problem back in March. The company then conducted more intensive tests, and on Wednesday workers found signs of the presence of Clostridium botulinum in a sample. Investigators have tied the problem to unsterilized pipes at a factory, and officials said those pipes have since been cleaned.