MILAN, Italy: Nestle has ordered the recall of baby formula sold in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal because of contamination by a photographic chemical.

The Swiss-based food company says that levels of isopropyl thioxanthone, or ITX, are not high enough to be hazardous, the BBC reports.

In Italy, the largest market for the formula, police began rounding up more than 30 million quarts Monday. Public Prosecutor Ascoli Ponticelli ordered the seizure by forestry police as a precaution.

ITX is used in printing on the milk cartons, but some of the chemical made it into the milk itself. Nestle said its production methods have been changed to prevent further contamination.

Nestle's baby products have caused public relations problems in the past. The company was accused of using free samples to market baby formula in poor countries where families had neither the money to buy it or access to clean water to prepare it safely.

Source