Retailers Reluctant to Restock Enfamil

Retailers are in no hurry to put Enfamil Premium Newborn infant formula back on their shelves, even though Mead Johnson Company says its tests have found no problems.

Walmart, Walgreens, Supervalu, Price Chopper and many smaller retailers removed the formula last week after a Missouri infant who had been fed Enfamil died from a rare bacterial infection attributed to Cronobacter, a microorganism that occurs in nature and is sometimes implicated in infant deaths. An Illinois baby also became ill but is recovering, officials said.

Retested

Mead Johnson says it has retested the batch of the formula involved in the infant's death and found no problems but the stores say they prefer to wait until they get the all-clear from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

There has been no official recall of the formula but retailers said they didn't want to take any chances.  Besides testing the formula, the FDA is examining other possible sources of the infection, including the water used to mix the formula in the infant's home.

The FDA has confirmed that it visited the plant in Zeeland, Mich., where the formula was manufactured and also examined some records at a Mead Johnson facility in Evansville, Ind.

About Cronobacter

Cronobacter is a naturally-occurring organism that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is implicated in a handful of infant illnesses each year.  It has a fatality rate of about 40 percent.

Although formula in sometimes implicated in infant illnesses, it is often not known whether the Cronobacter was in the formula when it was packaged or whether it was introduced later, after the package had been opened by parents and caregivers.

In 2001, a Mead Johnson product, Portagen, was recalled after an infant died in Tennessee.

CDC officials stressed the importance of parents and caregivers washing their hands thoroughly, sterilizing bottles and other equipment and preparing only small amounts of formula. 

Breast-feeding is safest

In 2008, two cases of Cronobacter infection, one in a male infant and the other in a female, were reported in New Mexico, in families living aobut 200 miles from each other. Although the infants had been fed the same brand of formula, the genetic types of Cronobacter were different.  The female suffered severe brain damage and the male infant later died of SIDS.

The exact path of transmission was not determined but traces of Cronobacter were found in vacuum cleaner samples taken from the male infant's home. No Cronobacter was found in unopened canisters of formula in either home.

The message, say health officials, is to practice extremely careful sanitation and sterilization practices when preparing and handling formula.

The safest procedure is to breast feed.  Breast-feeding not only eliminates the problem of contaminated formula but provides better nutritional and emotional support to infants.