Vitamine A surplus causes recall of milk replacer

Farmers and stockists of the lamb milk replacer – produced at the Frank Wright Trouw Nutrition International plant in Ashbourne, UK – are returning faulty batches to the company, after lambs were found to be "underperforming."

 

The milk replacer was found to have excessive levels of Vitamin A which caused some lambs to fall ill and, in extreme cases, can lead to the death of young lambs.

 

Amanda Sutton is a ruminant technical advisor based at the Ashbourne plant. She told the News Telegraph: "We have made some faulty lamb milk replacement back in February-March time.

 

"Vitamin A is essential for growth and development of the lambs and we put a certain percentage in the formula. An excess results in lambs not performing, they can be quite ill and in very extreme cases there can be deaths, but the majority of lambs haven’t had a problem at all.

 

The recall is not expected to have major financial repercussions to Frank Wright Trouw, which is one of Ashbourne’s largest employers. Sutton added: "It is just a small product line and it is limited to certain batches which we have identified."