Mom Recalls ‘Heartbreaking’ Experience of Her Son Being Hospitalized with Infant Botulism amid Formula Recall

One California mom is speaking out after her baby boy was hospitalized with infant botulism following the ByHeart infant formula recall.

Amy Mazziotti, a 43-year-old mother of three, says her son Hank began showing signs of infant botulism — a rare, potentially life-threatening illness that can cause progressive paralysis in infants — after drinking bottles made with ByHeart Whole Nutrition Infant Formula. Amy, who shares Hank and her two older children with her husband, 40-year-old Anthony Mazziotti, calls it “one of the scariest experiences of my life.”

“Watching Hank grow weaker and more fragile was heartbreaking,” Amy says. “I felt a mix of fear, guilt, and frustration, especially knowing this might have been preventable.”

Back in March, when Hank was just 5 months old, Amy first noticed that something seemed off. The early signs were mild: he was constipated, which didn’t immediately alarm her. But within a few days, the symptoms became harder to ignore.

“I remember texting my husband, Anthony, saying that Hank seemed ‘loose,’ like he had suddenly lost muscle tone,” she recalls. “He had just recently learned to roll over, and now he couldn’t. He also was no longer able to drink his bottle. That’s when I decided to take him to his pediatrician.”

At the appointment, Hank’s pediatrician was immediately worried. Because infant botulism can start with subtle symptoms, the initial concern was meningitis. “We spent hours in the emergency room as Hank continued to decline until a series of questions led us to suspect infant botulism,” Amy explains.

As doctors worked to figure out what was wrong, Amy started researching infant botulism on her own. The more she learned, the more the pieces seemed to fit. Hank’s appearance and symptoms resembled photos and stories from other families whose babies had been diagnosed. He was eventually transferred to a children’s hospital, where specialists confirmed infant botulism and began treatment.

On Saturday, Nov. 8, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in a news release that baby nutrition company ByHeart Inc. was recalling two batches of its Whole Nutrition Infant Formula. In the weeks that followed, additional cases like Hank’s were reported.

In a press release on Wednesday, Nov. 26, the FDA said it is investigating a multi-state outbreak of infant botulism linked to the formula, noting that 37 infants have been hospitalized. Illnesses began on Aug. 9, and 17 states have been affected so far. No deaths have been reported.

Amy says she “always suspected” the formula was behind Hank’s sudden decline, in part because the timing matched so closely. She repeatedly told hospital staff that she had “a gut feeling about the formula,” but was reassured that babies typically don’t get botulism from formula.

Months later, when she learned of the official recall, she felt her fears were confirmed.

For several weeks, Hank required intensive, ongoing care: multiple neurology appointments, swallow studies, and regular physical and occupational therapy sessions.

His treatment also included BabyBIG, a medication that neutralizes botulism toxin. “He stayed in the hospital for two weeks, during which he was fed through an [nasogastric] tube, though we were fortunate he was discharged without it,” Amy says. “His recovery took several weeks, during which he gradually regained muscle tone and resumed normal feeding.”

Throughout the ordeal, Amy says she was “terrified” for her baby. She also felt a deep ache from being separated from her other two children — son Hudson, 3, and daughter Harlow, 8.

“Hank’s illness affected our entire family. Not just me or my husband but his older siblings as well,” she shares. “There are still things we struggle with and there isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t think about that time.”

Now, several months after his diagnosis, Amy says Hank is “doing very well.” He still attends weekly physical therapy sessions for lingering low muscle tone and continues to deal with chronic constipation, but he has largely returned to his playful self.

“Despite these ongoing challenges, he is back to being an active, happy child,” she says. “The experience was incredibly difficult, but we are so grateful for the medical care he received, and for the awareness this recall has raised to help protect other babies.”

“This recall has been absolutely devastating, and my heart goes out to all families affected by it. Infant botulism is very rare, and most know very little of it,” she adds. “It’s very important to keep talking about this, and if I can help just one person learn the signs and symptoms and help educate others, I feel like I’m helping in some way.”