Stop using that Gerber formula! FDA issues SECOND recall for contaminated infant powder after distributors continue to ship
An infant formula made by one of the ‘big four’ US manufacturers has been recalled for the second time – after companies continued to sell the contaminated powder.
Michigan-based Perrigo urged Americans to stop using certain batches of Gerber Good Start SoothePro formula in mid-March when tests spotted a bacteria that could be deadly to children under two months old who hide in the formula.
But on Sunday, the product had to be recalled again after it was discovered that the powder had been sent to independent grocery stores in eight different states even after the alert was sent.
Americans who purchased the powder were urged to immediately throw it away and contact Perrigo for a refund.
Although no illnesses have been reported, the Food and Drug Administration urges parents to watch out for fever, unhealthy eating, and excessive crying if their child consumes the formula.
Pictured above is the infant formula being recalled for the second time. It is being recalled again because retailers were still distributing and selling the product
The notice was reposted on May 14 by food retailer Associated Wholesale Grocers, which admitted it was still selling the product.
“Any consumer who has purchased a product…should stop using it and dispose of the product,” they said.
The batches that had been recalled were sent to eight states. These were: Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
On March 17, Perrigo issued a recall notice for nine lots of its Gerber Good Start SootheProTM powdered infant formula.
They said the move was due to an “abundance of caution” after tests showed the formula was contaminated with Cronobacter sakazakii.
This bacterium is found naturally in the environment and is particularly adept at surviving in dry foods with low water content, such as baby powder.
It is harmless to most people, but in rare cases it can be fatal for infants under two months of age because it can infect the blood or cause swelling of the lining around the brain and spinal cord ( meningitis).
It’s unclear how the bacteria got into the baby powder, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it can happen if the formula comes in contact with a contaminated surface or if the ingredients used have already been contaminated.
Perrigo also had a recall due to the bacteria in 2019, when contamination was spotted in its formula sold at Walmart.
All affected infant formulas were manufactured between January 2 and January 18.
Gerber Good Start is for babies up to one year old, with marketing claiming the formula can help with excessive crying, irritability and gas.
It is currently out of stock on the Gerber site.
There are only four companies that manufacture infant formula in the United States: Abbott Laboratories, Mead Johnson, Perrigo Company PLC, and Nestle.
This incident brings back terrible memories of the horrific baby formula shortage that hit the United States last year.
The formula shortage was sparked in February when Abbott Laboratories closed its Sturgis plant and issued a recall while food safety regulators investigated potentially deadly contamination.
The factory was responsible for producing about one-fifth of US formula and is a major supplier of specialty formulas that babies with special needs rely on to survive.
This led parents to hoard the formula, furthering the shortage.
Nine months into the crisis, about a third of U.S. households said they still struggled to get formula, according to a Census Bureau survey conducted in mid-November.
And empty shelves continued to linger in March this year, but reports of parents struggling to feed their children dwindled.
