Workington mum's campaign to have milk formula withdrawn from sale 

More than 12,000 people have signed the petition launched by mum Catt Taylor, 20, of Moss Bay.

Her daughter Alayah Magill suffered four weeks of illness and at one point, had to be rushed to hospital but doctors could not pinpoint the cause. 

Catt suddenly thought that a new composition of ingredients in her usual milk formula could have caused the illness. 

As soon as she took Alayah off SMA Pro Formula, she began to recover.

Catt is calling for SMA Pro Formula milk to be taken off the market.

Catt, who works at Splat Messy Play, said: "Alayah started with a high temperature but I put it down to teething so I took her to nursery. 

"Shortly after the nursery called me to say her temperature had risen, so I went to pick her up.

"She was limp and lifeless, she was screaming and I just couldn't console her.

"Her temperature went up to 40 and she was sick so I rang the GP, who told me to get her straight to A&E.

"In the car she was dropping in and out of consciousness."

Her partner Edward Magill, 24, also rushed to the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven, where Alayah was tested for meningitis, water infection and scarlet fever.

After 24 hours, the baby was sent home without a diagnosis.

Catt  said: "That was scary. They couldn't work out why she got so ill so quickly. They monitored her but they concluded it must have been a virus."

Alayah was violently ill for the following weeks but the GP kept telling Catt it was a virus, after tests for gastroenteritis came back negative.

Catt said: "I knew she was hungry because she was reaching for the food but something was hurting her. "I rang Cumbria Health On Call and explained the symptoms."

As Catt was waiting for a GP to call her back, she realised that the tin of the usual SMA formula milk had changed.

She decided to look up the product on the internet and the first three results she found were complaints from other parents about the formula.

Catt said: "Other parents on online forums were describing their children as having the same symptoms as Alayah after using it.

"I rang Cumbria Health On Call back and told them what I had found out. The GP said Alayah had reacted really badly to the new ingredients.

"I felt absolutely awful because I was giving her the illness by giving her that milk.

"I was really angry. I stopped giving her the milk and in 24 hours she was back to being the happy playful baby that she was."

Catt posted her story on Facebook and it was shared thousands of times.

Soon she started receiving messages from mothers across the country who had children with the same symptoms after giving them the new formula.

She set up the online petition on Friday, which sparked comments from parents all over the world.

Catt said: "It was just unreal. It's hurtful that it's happened but I'm glad in a weird sense.

"Sometimes I feel that people look at me and think I'm a young mum and I'm exaggerating. I was relieved to know that I wasn't overreacting, Alayah was genuinely ill.

"I'm not shaming SMA or Nestle, just that particular product, I want it off the market. Not every baby will get what my daughter had from that milk, but I did get 12,000 people signing the petition and agreeing with me."

A spokesman for SMA said: "We launched SMA Pro in the UK in January. The changes were made to bring the product in line with the latest infant nutrition research and are in line with the latest paediatric recommendations and guidelines. The changes are particularly focused around the protein content of the formula, and represents our most advanced formulas yet.

"All of the ingredients have undergone significant clinical testing to demonstrate their safety. Exactly the same ingredients are used in our formula milks in many other countries, including France, Sweden and Italy, and are used by millions of babies worldwide, so we would know very quickly if there were any issues.

"Information was given to healthcare professionals three months in advance. For parents, we included information on our website, and sent emails to members of our Baby Club. We also included an underlid sticker on the new packs to explain the changes to the product.

"However, as the marketing of infant milks is heavily regulated, and rightly so, we were limited in the communication we could do in advance of the product launch.

"Some babies can be sensitive to any changes in their milk, and therefore we have spoken with some parents about transitioning from the old formula to the new formula.

"In addition, we have not received any complaints from doctors, midwives or healthcare professionals about the product. If parents have any concerns about their baby's health, we always suggest they speak to their healthcare professional.

"The health and safety of our products is our number one priority, so if there was a reason to recall, we would be the first to do so. However, SMA Pro has never been recalled and we have no plans to do so."

Catt's petition is at www.change.org/p/nestle-ban-sma-pro-formula-milk