– CONTRIBUTED –
This week there were three hearings in Washington D.C. addressing the infant formula shortage and the reasons behind it. FDA officials were pressed about the failure of leadership and disorganization of the recall by Abbott Nutrition. The FDA refused to take food safety seriously and now the most vulnerable are at risk.
Abbott received 17 consumer complaints between 2019 and 2021. This included 15 complaints of infants testing positive for another pathogen and one complaint related to Cronobacter. The company also found Cronobacter in two batches of formula. The first just one day after an FDA inspection in 2019 in addition to five other environmental samples between 2019 and 2021.
The Abbott recall could have been prevented. The agency had reports of safety failures months before the contaminated formula sickened babies and caused two deaths. Now, infants are going hungry due to the delay and lack of urgency.
Sign the petition now to help us add Cronobacter Sakazakii to the Nationally Notifiable Disease List to prevent this from happening again.
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