Cocobella says it has found the cause of the contamination that triggered a nationwide recall.
The popular coconut yoghurt brand pulled all flavours and sizes of its products from shelves in August after undeclared traces of milk were discovered.
The company has now completed its investigation and products will return to stores this week, it said in a statement shared on social media on Wednesday.
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“After a thorough investigation, Cocobella coconut yoghurt will be returning to shelves this week,” the company said.
It revealed the contamination was caused by “a mechanical issue” that allowed milk to enter a small number of batches.
Cocobella products are made at a site shared with another brand that produces dairy products — a practice the company said is common in the food manufacturing industry.
It added it was not possible for production lines to be fully isolated at this stage.
“We have since made a permanent engineering change to fix this and to ensure it cannot happen again,” the statement continued.
Cocobella also promised clearer allergen labelling and enhanced testing for milk proteins.
“We’re also making changes to our labels and website to assist people with a milk allergy, and enhancing our milk allergen testing.”
The company said it will add a voluntary precautionary allergen statement to all packaging — indicating its products are “made in a site that handles milk” — following consultations with allergy experts and consumer feedback.
The brand apologised to those people affected by the contamination and recall, and thanked customers for their patience.
“We are so sorry to all of those affected, and for letting you down, especially people with food allergy and their families,” it said.
Mixed consumer response
Many loyal customers welcomed the announcement and the products’ return.
“So excited!! I’ve been checking every week on the shelves, WELCOME BACK,” one person wrote.
“Nice to see some transparency and having the ability to take ownership,” another said.
“You haven’t lost me. You identified the problem and accepted responsibility. Thank you. Can’t wait to buy your products again,” yet another added.
But others remain cautious, citing serious health concerns.
“I’m glad you’re back guys and totally get how mistakes happen but I was unwell for an entire month from being allergic to milk,” one person said.
“I never thought a dairy-free product would even be made in a factory that handles milk. How often are you testing batches from now on? I want to buy but it’s pretty scary.”
Some other people remarked that they would never purchase Cocobella again.
“I’m glad you got stock back to the shelves but I was so unwell for four weeks and couldn’t work out why until confirming via email it was contaminated,” one consumer said.
“How can this happen when all your Australian products are dairy-free? Why is there dairy in the same factory ... I don’t think I could ever trust your product again to not impact my health and feel unwell. I’m very disappointed.”
“Sorry but you’ve lost mine, and I’m sure many other parents of dairy allergy children, business,” another said.
“Your products (particularly the pouches, which were clearly targeted at children and toddlers) were a staple in our daughter’s restricted diet, and this has been not only a massive loss for her diet but also for our confidence in providing her manufactured food products that should be safe.
“Accidents happen, yes, but this shouldn’t have.”
Serious reactions emerge
At least 10 people, including children, were hospitalised after eating Cocobella’s “dairy-free” yoghurts prior to the recall.
Reported symptoms included coughing, difficulty swallowing, itchy eyes and shortness of breath, which developed soon after eating the yoghurt.
Victorian father Nate said he rushed his two-year-old son to hospital after the toddler began coughing and struggling to breathe moments after eating a pouch of Cocobella banana yoghurt.
Melbourne mother Grace Kolo said her one-year-old son had been eating Cocobella yoghurt daily until his skin rashes worsened and, one day, escalated to coughing, swallowing difficulties, itchy eyes and shortness of breath.
Victoria’s Department of Health confirmed it had received two reports of hospitalisation linked to Cocobella yoghurt.
“The department is working closely with Dairy Food Safety Victoria in relation to the recalled Cocobella product to help avoid any further cases of anaphylaxis,” a spokesperson said at the time.
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