When she saw the news of Abbott's recall of related milk powder products for "baby infection salmonella complaints", Ms. Zhang of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, thought of her son: in October 2021, her son was diagnosed with Salmonella; and in August of that year, when the child was ten months old, she began to feed her son an Abbott milk powder, which was within the scope of the recall.
In the view of Ms. Zhang and her husband, her son's infection with Salmonella may be related to the consumption of Abbott milk powder. To this end, they contacted sam's club, the milk powder seller, and Abbott China, but they have not received a satisfactory answer.
Ms. Zhang said they bought 6 cans of milk powder from Sam's Club Global, kept the purchase records of the milk powder and the diagnosis sheet of the child's infection, but the milk powder that the child drank at that time was gone, leaving only an empty jar that was used to hold other things.
Ms. Zhang's purchase of milk powder records
In this regard, on March 11, the relevant staff of "Abbott China" replied to the surging news (www.thepaper.cn) that they did not see medical investigation evidence to prove that the child's infection with germs was related to the consumption of Abbott milk powder. At present, they are actively communicating about the problems reported by parents.
In February this year, abbott took the initiative to recall some products due to complaints involving four cases of infant and young child infection, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigated the relevant complaints. The FDA recently updated information said that a Newport Salmonella case in the previous complaint has been excluded from the investigation, there is not enough information to determine that the disease is related to infant formula, and will continue to monitor Salmonella cases and consumer complaints that may be related to this incident.
Young children infected with Salmonella, and parents said they had used Abbott recalled milk powder
Due to the product's involvement in the U.S. infant infection with bacteria, on February 17, Abbott announced a voluntary recall of the product manufactured in the same factory as the milk powder involved. After seeing the news, Ms. Zhang of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, found that the recalled products included the Abbott infant formula she had previously given her son to drink. The photos she provided showed that the first two digits of the bottom code of the milk powder can were 27, the code contained "SH", and the shelf life was April 1, 2023, which matched the information on the recalled products issued by Abbott China.
Bottom of the milk powder can.
Ms. Zhang said that last August, when her son was ten months old, she ended breastfeeding and began giving her children the American version of infant formula from Sam's Club Global. Two months later, around October 27, 2021, the child suddenly started diarrhea. At first, she and her husband thought it was caused by indigestion, so they fed the child some lighter food. However, the child's diarrhea has not changed, and even blood in the stool has appeared. On the evening of November 4, the child had a fever of 40 ° C, went to Suzhou Children's Hospital to hang water, because the situation did not improve, the child was hospitalized after three days. After tests such as a stool culture, the test results showed salmonella in his body. The hospital diagnosed that the child was infected with Salmonella enteritis.
Ms. Zhang believes that the situation they encountered is similar to that previously disclosed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — in a complaint of salmonella infection in a baby that consumed milk powder produced by Abbott's factory in Sturgis, Michigan.
Thinking that a child's salmonella infection might be related to the consumption of Abbott milk powder, in February this year, Ms. Zhang and her husband, Mr. Hu, contacted Sam's Club to negotiate a refund for the milk powder and the treatment of the child. However, they did not receive a satisfactory answer. "The customer service said that the milk powder (can) help us return it, but he couldn't solve the problem of my baby's illness and infection." My wife and I went to the physical store to communicate with them, and they reflected my problem to Abbott headquarters. Mr. Hu said.
Mr. Hu told The Paper that they kept the purchase records of the milk powder and the child's diagnosis sheet, but the milk powder that the child drank at that time was gone, leaving only an empty jar that was used to hold other things.
Ms. Zhang bought milk powder
In abbott China's view, it cannot be directly proved that the child's infection with germs is related to the consumption of Abbott milk powder. "We didn't see any direct evidence of medical investigation." On March 11, relevant staff of Abbott China told The Paper that they had not found that the child's infection with Salmonella was directly related to edible milk powder. At present, they are actively communicating about the problems reported by parents.
The staff member said that the preventive recall of the products produced by the factory involved was due to the safety of consumers. At present, no products of Abbott have been detected to contain related bacteria, and the specific situation is still under investigation by the FDA.
FDA: There is not enough information to determine that milk powder is associated with Salmonella infection and monitoring will continue
The Abbott milk powder recall storm began with an announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
On February 17, the FDA announced that it was investigating complaints of infection in four infants with The Case of Cronobacter sakazaki and Salmonella Nyhavn. According to the FDA, all four babies reportedly consumed milk powder (brands including Similac, Alimentum and EleCare) produced by Abbott in Michigan's Sturgis facility (registration number 1815692).
On the same day, Abbott began a voluntary recall of the associated infant formula.
The General Administration of Customs of China issued an announcement on February 20 that the relevant milk powder products were not exported to China through general trade, but a special medical product named Xikang Baotian had an export record to China, and Abbott China has launched an independent recall. The General Administration of Customs reminds consumers to immediately suspend the consumption of Abbott-related infant formula milk powder and temporarily refrain from purchasing and consuming Abbott-related infant and child products.
The FDA's subsequent investigation announcement said that as of Feb. 28, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that a patient had contracted another type of Cronobacter sakazaki from exposure to infant formula produced at Abbott's Sturges, Michigan factory. Cronobacterium infection may be a contributing factor to the patient's death. The consumer complaints surveyed included four reports of Enterobacter sakazaki infection in infants and one report of Salmonella infection in infants, and all five cases associated with these complaints were hospitalized, with two patients dying.
On March 9, local time, the relevant staff of the FDA replied to the surging news by email, and the FDA has issued the latest investigation announcement on the infection of infant formula with young children.
FDA replied.
Information updated by the FDA on March 9 shows that cases of Salmonella Nyhavn, which were previously included in this complaint and disease investigation, have been excluded from the investigation. In the early stages of this investigation, the FDA's investigation scope included all consumer complaints about illnesses due to exposure to products from the Sturgis facility in Michigan. After further investigation, the FDA determined that there was not enough information to determine that the disease was associated with infant formula. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that salmonella disease did not lead to an outbreak. The FDA and CDC will continue to monitor Salmonella cases and consumer complaints that may be related to this event.
Germ "regulars" in milk powder safety incidents
Salmonella and Cronobacter sakazaki are the more common pathogens in infant milk powder safety incidents.
Public information shows that Salmonella is an intestinal pathogenic bacteria, divided into Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi and non-Typhi Salmonella and other types, different types of Salmonella can cause typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, fever, abdominal pain and so on.
Krollobacter sakazaki infection may cause meningitis, sepsis or necrotizing colitis in preterm, low-birth-weight infants, and immunocompromised infants, with a mortality rate of 40-50% due to diseases caused by Enterobacter sakazaki.
According to the provisions of the National Standard for Food Safety Infant Formula (GB17065) and the General Principles of Infant Formula for Special Medical Purposes of the National Standard for Food Safety, the above two germs shall not be detected in infant formula and infant formula for special medical purposes. However, in recent years, it is not uncommon for domestic and foreign dairy milk powder products to be detected to contain the above two germs.
On September 23, 2008, French infant and toddler dairy company Boyiroku announced a nationwide recall of a batch of infant "anti-vomiting and digestion" milk powder produced by the company due to suspected salmonella contamination.
According to Xinhua Net, in 2005, a large-scale milk powder contamination incident in France was salmonella, and more than 140 infants and young children were infected. In 2006, French dairy giant Lactalis Group acquired the Krone plant, which had a pollution incident. In December 2017, there was another outbreak of problematic milk powder at the Krone plant, which caused 37 infants and young children to fall ill. Affected by the milk powder scandal, Laktalis Group has recalled its infant and young child milk products three times, involving a large number of products sold in more than 80 countries around the world.
According to the News Network of China News in August 2018, according to the recent early warning report of the EU Food and Feed Rapid Warning System, infant formula produced in Ireland is suspected of being infected with Salmonella. Initially reported by France, many countries have since issued warnings.
On May 23, 2017, the former State Food and Drug Administration issued a notice saying that after sampling, the gold infant formula (Stage 1) produced by Hunan Zhanhui Food Co., Ltd. was detected with Enterobacter Hanzaki, and the infant formula milk powder was unqualified.
In June 2019, the Heilongjiang Provincial Market Supervision and Administration Bureau issued a notice saying that the nominal Heilongjiang Nongken Inbo Warwick Dairy Co., Ltd. produced every jia infant formula (0-6 months old, 1 paragraph) Ofsaki Enterobacterium was unqualified, and the Suihua Branch of the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of Heilongjiang Reclamation District confiscated 19957.2 yuan of illegal gains and fined 293034 yuan.
Zhang Aimin, chief doctor of the Department of Neonatology of Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, introduced that Salmonella and Sakazaki Cronobacteria are infectious, and newborn resistance is often weak, so it is necessary to pay attention to avoid infection. The main symptoms of salmonella infection are diarrhea, abdominal pain, etc., and in severe cases, symptoms such as blood in the stool, fever, and vomiting will occur. Infants with low resistance may also develop life-threatening meningitis if they are infected with Salmonella.
Dr. Zhang Aimin explained that Salmonella and Sakazaki Cronobacter are easily inactivated in high temperature environments. From a medical point of view, the infection of salmonella or Enterobacter sakazaki in young children may be infected through other routes other than milk powder, and may not be directly related to milk powder. In daily life, in order to prevent germ infection, parents should first clean their hands when brewing milk powder for young children, clean and disinfection utensils, and can brew milk powder with boiling water at 100 ° C water temperature.
Does the voluntary initiation of a recall of milk powder products by dairy companies mean that there is a problem with the product? Dairy analyst Song Liang analyzed that the independent recall of dairy products by enterprises is not only out of the provisions of the law, but also the performance of the company's responsibility for consumer safety. "Just to say that there may be problems with the relevant products, not that there is a problem with the products themselves." He said both the United States and China have food safety recall mechanisms in place. After the company finds that the product has a security problem or a security risk, it will initiate a recall. If the relevant testing agencies find that there is a problem with the product, the recall mechanism will be activated accordingly. For this Abbott milk powder self-recall product incident, parents do not need to panic.
Song Liang analyzed that from the perspective of the safety of milk powder, there are certain safety problems in Haitao milk powder. There will also be some middlemen who sell counterfeit milk powder products to Chinese consumers for the sake of profit, which not only infringes on the rights and interests of consumers, but also affects the goodwill of brands. It is recommended that parents buy milk powder from the flagship store of the e-commerce platform, when purchasing infant formula milk powder, parents can judge from the formula, production process and brand background of the milk powder, focusing on the business background of the enterprise and whether there have been safety problems in recent years.