A CONCERNED father has issued a warning to parents after an inquiry into how his son's dried baby milk became contaminated with plastic.

Mr Raymond Halleron, of Chapel Street, Rishton, is unhappy with manufacturer SMA Nutrition's apology after an investigation confirmed his discovery.

Mr Halleron found the blue plastic a few weeks ago as he was making up the Hungry for Babies milk for six-month-old Alistair. He contacted SMA Nutrition, based in Maidenhead, and they instructed him to return the product.

Last week he received a letter with the verdict from a laboratory investigation. It said small blue particles from one of their bottle tops had contaminated the product.

But a SMA spokeswoman said these had got in after the bottle was opened and that they were from a different top to that used on the Mr Halleron's jar.

She said they were uncertain how this had happened, but because the contamination had occurred after opening, they had decided to end their action with the letter.

She added that maybe they chose the wrong words in indicating to Mr Halleron that the substance was safe to eat, but they just wanted to reassure him that no harm would be done.

Mr Halleron, who bought the product at Rishton's Late Shop, said the letter left him feeling angry because it felt like they were justifying the contamination, rather than condemning it.

He said he would not want his baby to eat the plastic, despite the company's advice.

"The letter assured me that all plastic was an approved food grade material and was none toxic, so they are saying he can eat it and be alright, but it shouldn't have been there," he said.

"I don't want my baby to eat that plastic. I was worried when I saw it in the milk and was concerned that something could happen to him.

"Now we are being more careful and inspecting everything first.

"There wasn't an apology in the letter. They thanked me for letting them investigate it, but didn't say sorry to us.

"They should have shown us more concern instead of saying rubbish about the plastic. It has left me really angry."

A spokesperson for SMA Nutrition said: "Putting those words in might not have been too reassuring," she said, "but we wanted to say don't worry because it's not toxic and obviously we have a high quality of hygiene.

"But we sent him a letter to say we are looking at it, thanks for letting us know, and that we were sorry for the inconvenience.

"We decided to leave it at that. We said he could contact us if there was anything else."

She added that they sent Mr Halleron a free product.