The US Department of Justice has ended a criminal investigation into Abbott Laboratories and bacterial contamination at its plant in Michigan.
Four years ago, consumer complaints of Cronobacter sakazakii and Salmonella Newport infection in infants who had consumed infant-formula made at the Sturgis plant led to Abbott recalling products and the facility being closed.
The closure sparked nationwide shortages of infant formula in the US. Import regulations were eased to boost supplies and the affair prompted an overhaul of infant-formula regulations in the country.
No salmonella was found at the Sturgis facility but Cronobacter sakazakii was detected in “non-product contact areas” at the site. Abbott has stated “no unopened distributed Abbott infant formulas have ever tested positive for Cronobacter sakazakii or Salmonella Newport”.
In a statement sent to Just Food, a spokesperson for the US Department of Justice said yesterday (29 June): “Ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply is a top priority for the Trump Administration, however, this Department of Justice does not believe in regulation by prosecution.”
The spokesperson said the DoJ “civil and criminal options are on the table” in its investigations but added: “In this instance, the Department reached a proposed settlement with Abbott Laboratories to resolve the allegations that certain facilities knowingly failed to manufacture powder infant formula in compliance with government requirements designed to prevent contamination.”
Just Food has approached Abbott for comment.
The DoJ spokesperson added: “Once finalised, this resolution will achieve significant recovery for taxpayers and send an unmistakable message that companies putting children’s health at risk will face serious consequences.”
In a separate case, Abbott said in April it planned to appeal a US court ruling to award $53m in damages to the mothers of four babies fed the company’s infant formula.
A Cook County judge in Illinois made the decision in a trial that alleged a link between Abbott’s cows’ milk-based preterm formula and the development of the intestinal disease necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).
The verdict by the Cook County Circuit Court jury issued individual awards of $16m, two lots of $15m and one of $9m to the four families after determining that Abbott ‘negligently failed to provide adequate warnings to health care providers and guardians’, according to the legal publication HarrisMartin.
