Pfizer, which owns the manufacturer SMA, said that they initiated an immediate investigation with its manufacturing facility after receiving the report from the company’s Careline on 7 September.
Investigation
A spokesperson from the company said: “At Pfizer Nutrition we take concerns from our customers very seriously and would always want to work directly with them to resolve any issue. We have requested that the can in question be returned to us as soon as possible, at our cost, in order for us to complete the investigation.”
The company said that after having seen the spring for the first time on the Look North news television report it thought that it was unlikely that the object would have originated from the manufacturing process.
Pfizer also said that extensive safety systems are in place that are designed to safeguard the quality and safety of the company’s products. In particular, it said that systems would pick up any magnetic object and integral sieves (hole size 1.2mm) in the process would retain an object of this size.
“Furthermore, the manufacturing plant is a ‘state of the art’ enclosed stainless steel system that does not include components that would rust.” Pfizer commented.
Tamsin Hezzell from the UK said she discovered the spring while preparing a bottle for her six-month-old son. Hezzell said she would not be using SMA's powdered milk again.