Baby Vitamin Recalled Over Vomiting Fears

A California supplements company has issued a recall of one lot of baby vitamins as it contains an elevated or "super potent" dose of Vitamin D that could lead to vomiting, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an alert on Thursday.

Nordic Naturals, based in Watsonville, a city near Santa Cruz in central California, said on Saturday that around 3,800 bottles of its baby Vitamin D3 liquid were affected by the recall, with one fifth of that number already being returned by retailers.

"Prolonged use of the recalled Baby's Vitamin D3 Liquid could potentially lead to elevated vitamin D levels, resulting in vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, frequent urination, and inability to thrive in infants," the FDA warned.

Newsweek approached a representative for Nordic Naturals via email for comment on Tuesday.

While the body naturally produces Vitamin D by taking in sunlight, this is often insufficient in colder months and in regions further from the equator. It can be found naturally in food such as oily fish, red meat and eggs.

A lack of Vitamin D deficiency can weaken the development of healthy bones, teeth and muscles, and a deficiency of the chemical can lead to bone deformities such as rickets.

However, too much Vitamin D over a long period of time can cause too much calcium to build up in the body, which can weaken bones and cause damage to some internal organs.

According to the alert, a manufacturing error had led to the higher levels of Vitamin D in the products, which usually contain 10 micrograms per 0.76 fluid ounce bottle. It said that no reports of adverse medical events had been reported and the recall was solely as a result of the error.

The affected products, which are marketed as a dietary supplement for infants up to the age of one year, carry the lot number 234909 and have an expiration date of December 2025.

The FDA said that Nordic Naturals had taken "immediate action" by notifying distributors and retailers, as well as customers directly via email, to arrange for the products to be returned.

The federal agency warned that customers who still had the product should discontinue its use immediately and return it to the place it was purchased.

"Nordic Naturals prioritizes consumer safety, reaffirming its dedication to quality products," the company said as part of the alert. "We are swiftly removing the recalled item from the market to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our customers."

It is not the first time vitamin-enriched products have been subject to a recall. In April 2021, a New Jersey-based household goods manufacturer recalled several types of gummy vitamins after consumers reported finding "metallic mesh material" in the product.

Prior to that, in December 2018, the FDA found that six different brands of dog food contained potentially dangerous levels of Vitamin D, sparking a number of voluntary recalls.