topic Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13 in Community Chat

Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

Cakers3 — Sat, 14 May 2022 20:48:41 GMT

QUOTE:
We’ve air shipped millions of cans of infant formula powder into the U.S. from our FDA-registered facility in Cootehill, Ireland.
We have prioritized infant formula production at our Columbus, Ohio, facility, converting other liquid manufacturing lines into manufacturing Similac liquid ready-to-feed.
We are offering an increased number and value of coupons available for all our infant formula products, including Similac ready-to-feed, to enable customers to purchase formula, either free or deeply discounted.
And our other manufacturing facilities are running at full capacity as we continue to prioritize production of infant formula to help replenish the supply in the market.

At the same time, we have been working to address the FDA’s 483 observations so we can restart operations at the Sturgis, Mich., facility. We immediately began implementing corrective actions and subject to FDA approval, we could restart our Sturgis, Mich., site within two weeks.

We are confident that we can continue to produce safe, high-quality infant formula at all of our facilities as we have been doing for millions of babies around the world for decades.

************************

Also from an update from May 11th:

There is more to the bacteria issue including finding the bacteria in the distilled water used with the powdered formula and not in the formula itself.

Also more info regarding the type of bacteria found in the facility but not near where the formula was produced.

I will not link but just go the their website.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

Desertdi — Sat, 14 May 2022 21:17:05 GMT

@Cakers3 Thanks for providing this information. Huh....kinda makes a person wonder why they have been sitting on their....uh....hands....for so long.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

Cakers3 — Sat, 14 May 2022 21:32:10 GMT

It appears that Sturgis, Michigan has been the ground zero, if you will, for the issue of contamination.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

Still Raining — Sat, 14 May 2022 21:36:05 GMT

Who knew? Keep the violations under 500 and still cited!!!! For crying out loud.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

Cakers3 — Sat, 14 May 2022 21:54:16 GMT

From the FDA website:

Illnesses occurred in Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas between September 6, 2021 and January 4, 2022.

Food Safety News :

Between Sept. 1, 2019, and Sept. 20, 2021, Abbott Nutrition received 17 consumer complaints regarding multiple Similac powdered infant formula products.

Fifteen of the complaints related to infants testing positive for Salmonella after consuming a Similac product. One complaint cited an infant who was diagnozed with Cronobacter (Enterobacter) sakazakii, and one was as the result of an infant death from an unspecified cause.

This information is contained in the Sept. 20-24, 2021, Establishment Inspection Report (EIR), obtained by eFoodAlert from the Food and Drug Administration in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Much more at that website.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

skatting44 — Sat, 14 May 2022 22:35:29 GMT

Seems to me that ALL babies in our country should be our # 1 Priority

We've had shortages of various items such as toilet paper ect for the last 2 yrs , so it does not take a rocket scientist or a person to be a mind reader to anticipate " What If we had other vital shortages ".

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

SharkE — Sat, 14 May 2022 22:37:25 GMT

what did women do back in the western days before factories and store bought stuff and walmart.

I don't have kids and don't have a clue, but, somehow babies were raised before now they just give them cows milk and somehow they survived ?

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

Cakers3 — Sat, 14 May 2022 23:05:59 GMT

@SharkE wrote:
what did women do back in the western days before factories and store bought stuff and walmart.

I don't have kids and don't have a clue, but, somehow babies were raised before now they just give them cows milk and somehow they survived ?

@SharkE Babies also died from illnesses in the "western days" we can now control/eradicate.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

RollTide2008 — Sat, 14 May 2022 23:06:33 GMT

I don’t think they’ve been sitting on their hands. They have an entire line down. They’re not making any money on it. Abbott, working with the FDA, had trouble finding the source of the bacteria.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

Cakers3 — Sat, 14 May 2022 23:08:36 GMT

@RollTide2008 wrote:
I don’t think they’ve been sitting on their hands. They have an entire line down. They’re not making any money on it. Abbott, working with the FDA, had trouble finding the source of the bacteria.

@RollTide2008 It is not that simple.

The various types of bacteria were known.

The articles explain much more.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

SharkE — Sat, 14 May 2022 23:09:43 GMT

I'm wondering what did people do when they raised kids in times gone by

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

Pezzie — Sat, 14 May 2022 23:22:48 GMT

Why did they wait till it got to this critical point before bringing in stock from their facility in Ireland? And it's still going to be days before the formula reaches grocery shelves.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

JamandBread — Sat, 14 May 2022 23:38:13 GMT

@SharkE wrote:
I'm wondering what did people do when they raised kids in times gone by

Babies died.

In 1950, 29 babies out of 1000 live births died in infancy.

In 2021 it was 6 out of 1000.

There must be some reason for the difference. Perhaps its because now that we know better, we do better.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

BlueFinch — Sun, 15 May 2022 00:16:38 GMT

@SharkE wrote:
I'm wondering what did people do when they raised kids in times gone by

Mom's breastfed. When they couldn't, if they were lucky, they would find a 'wet nurse.' Simply another woman producing milk to feed their baby for them.

History repeats itself. It's what's happening now. Groups of women are banding together for the cause. Those who can spare are pumping, storing and providing milk for mom's in desperate need during this formula crisis.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

cindyNC — Sun, 15 May 2022 00:56:44 GMT

Why did they wait until now? Now they are heroes and not the bad guys who had to have their factory shut down. Great publicity. (I'm just being snarky here, I'm sure there are other reasons that make perfect sense.)

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

skatting44 — Sun, 15 May 2022 01:11:51 GMT

@SharkE

Well, the women who have just given birth have breast feeding as a better option to do so. I can say it is an extra job to breast feed and have to pump extra milk to store for a baby when you have to go back to work full time .I've worked with some co workers who came back to work full time and they spent alot of working time pumping their breasts all the while relying on their co workers to pick up their share of the work load.

You are forgetting there was a high mortality rate among babies back in the day and that many women did not work outside of the home

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

San Antonio Gal — Sun, 15 May 2022 01:27:39 GMT

@SharkE wrote:
I'm wondering what did people do when they raised kids in times gone by

@SharkE - Someone posted that back in the day before formula, there was a recipe with condensed milk mixed with something else that people used to feed babies. That seems like a pretty easy concoction to duplicate if it gets to that point.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

gertrudecloset — Sun, 15 May 2022 01:42:56 GMT

Infant mortality rates in the US have a lot of variables and factors that must be counted. Feeding is probably one part of it but it doesn't stop there.

We can't assign the blame to formula or prepared home made preparations for infants. It's much bigger than that when you look at the infant mortality rate.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

JamandBread — Sun, 15 May 2022 03:10:32 GMT

@gertrudecloset wrote:
Infant mortality rates in the US have a lot of variables and factors that must be counted. Feeding is probably one part of it but it doesn't stop there.

We can't assign the blame to formula or prepared home made preparations for infants. It's much bigger than that when you look at the infant mortality rate.

Well, yes, of course. I'm sure vaccinations have a lot to do with it too. However, assuming that because it was good enough 50 years ago, doesn't mean it cuts the mustard now.

Re: Abbott Nutrition Issues Update 5/13

gertrudecloset — Sun, 15 May 2022 03:43:40 GMT

@JamandBread wrote:
@gertrudecloset wrote:
Infant mortality rates in the US have a lot of variables and factors that must be counted. Feeding is probably one part of it but it doesn't stop there.

We can't assign the blame to formula or prepared home made preparations for infants. It's much bigger than that when you look at the infant mortality rate.
Well, yes, of course. I'm sure vaccinations have a lot to do with it too. However, assuming that because it was good enough 50 years ago, doesn't mean it cuts the mustard now.

Well yeah, we do know more than we did back then too @JamandBread . I agree with that.

However, poverty in the US still exists. With that said, many mothers (even those with access to care) will have it harder with nutrition while carrying and of course all of the other things some segments of the population engage in: drug and alcohol abuse. These are those other variables that can contribute to the infant mortality rate. Of course there's more.

I remember we it was announced that smoking cigarettes affected babies in utero. That was years ago and it's still true now, but there are some segments of our population who still don't have access to proper counseling and care pre and post pregnancy (on behalf of the babies). As a nation our stats could be better. We have a lot of points to address.

Read this too

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2021/08/01/us-maternal-and-infant-mortality-more-signs-of-public-health-neglect/?sh=701b69b03a50

this one too because it will go into detail that you and I probably agree on!

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/infant-mortality-u-s-compare-countries/#Infant%20mortality%20rate%20(deaths%20per%201,000%20live%20births),%20by%20state,%202017