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The Food Safety Authority has denied singling out baby food manufacturer Nutricia for special treatment, and says it acted against one of its lines of formula to ensure babies' good health.
On Monday the authority recommended that parents stop using Nutricia's Karicare Gold Plus range of formulas as they contain a non-approved ingredient.
Nutricia has reacted by launching a major advertising campaign to stress that it considers its product to be safe.
The authority says it has no evidence the product is unsafe, but the formula went on sale before proper tests were carried out.
Nutricia says other products on the market also contain the ingredient.
Yesterday, authority spokeswoman Jenny Reid said that as far as it knew Nutricia was the only firm to put FOS, a naturally occurring sugar added to help digestion, into infant formula.
"Clearly, if a nutritive substance is not listed, it is not permitted," Ms Reid said.
"This ensures confidence in the safety of an essential food source for a ... group who may not be breast-fed."
