Parents claim baby fell ill after using Coco2 infant formula

Parents of a young baby say they thought their child was seriously unwell — and potentially malnourished — after using a plant-based baby formula during feeding.

Coco2 Australia Pty Ltd sells what it has described as the “world’s first coconut-based infant formula — a breakthrough in plant-based nutrition for babies”.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Baby formula maker admits error in scoop size.

In an email to customers, which has been obtained by 7NEWS, Coco2 admitted an error in its scoop size.

“We’re reaching out with an important update regarding the Coco2 Baby Formula batch you purchased,” the company told customers in the message.

“Due to natural variations in bulk density, we discovered that the included scoop holds slightly less powder than usual.”

The company encouraged parents to add 50 per cent more powder to a bottle.

“This adjustment is simply to ensure that your baby receives the proper serving size and all the nutrients they need,” the company said.

“We sincerely apologise for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.”

An Australian family who have chosen to remain anonymous claim their baby boy started to become ill after being on the formula for a few weeks.

“He wasn’t reaching any of his seven-month milestones, he wasn’t sitting up,” the father told 7NEWS.

“He’d look sick, he’d get up, he’d drink, he’d go to sleep and then wake up again in half an hour because he’s hungry and we’d feed him again.

“By February he just started to go downhill, just quite lethargic, lost all his colour, lost weight.

“His lips started to crack. He was rashing all around his nose and eyes and so we just went to the GP and he suggested some blood tests.”

The family say they eventually hit the panic button and rushed him to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital.

“We had the results saying it doesn’t look like it’s a blood cancer, but there’s something going on, but we don’t know what it is,” the dad said.

The family told doctors about the feeding and after being put on a different formula, they say the baby boy began to improve almost immediately.

“Our kid’s fine now, he’s OK. We don’t think there’s any long-term issues,” the father said.

Hospital report

An official report from doctors at The Royal Children’s which 7NEWS has obtained suggests the baby’s illness was likely caused by the Coco2 Baby Formula.

“The Coco formula they were previously consuming had made an error in their scoop size and was not delivering adequate nutrition per feed — this is the likely cause for their significant weight loss and malnutrition,” according to the report.

In a statement to 7NEWS the company denied the formula caused the boy’s malnutrition, insisting the formula remains safe.

“Following the discovery of a discrepancy in scoop weight, we conducted immediate remeasurement of the formula’s density across all production batches to ensure the corrected scoop size accurately reflects the intended serving,” the company said.

“The formula, when prepared using the updated instructions, is fully compliant and safe.

“We must stress that there have been no medically confirmed reports of babies becoming seriously ill due to Coco2 formula.

“Coco2 was developed by infant nutrition specialists and remains unchanged and safe when used as directed. We are deeply committed to maintaining the highest standards of transparency, quality, and care.”

It added that a recall was not necessary because the issue was related to dosage rather than the actual product.

Tins of the formula now have a sticker covering old feeding guide measurements.

Have you experienced something similar? Email: 7ndtips@seven.com.au