A COUPLE has been arrested after reportedly feeding their five-month-old child an ineffective vegan baby formula.
Florida couple Robert Buskey and Julia French are practicing vegans.
However, they were recently advised by a doctor to feed their new-born child using an organic formula.
They ignored those recommendations though, opting to feed the child a potato-based formula instead.
According to Fox News, the authorities were forced to step in after the baby was found to be severely malnourished.
At the time of his parents’ arrest, the child weighed just eight pounds, eight ounces – just one pound more than his weight at birth.
They now stand accused of causing intentional harm to the event in opting to ignore their doctor’s advice and feed the baby their own formula.
“I’ve never seen a child to this level, this close to possible death,” Detective Lauren Watson told Fox News.
Police descriptions suggest the baby’s eyes were sunken in while his ribs were visible, and he appeared to be dehydrated at the time of the arrest.
“At one point, when the child was doing good and healthy, and gaining weight, he was on organic formula [but] they changed it on their own."
The child is now recovering in hospital having gained back some of his weight.
Doctors nevertheless fear the experience may have some long-term effects.
See More: Baby Formula, Vegan
