BEIJING (Reuters) – China Customs has warned consumers against buying and eating certain infant and baby products of Abbott Laboratories that were affected in a recent recall linked to a U.S. factory.
The General Administration of Customs, in a post published on Sunday on its website, referred to a Feb. 18 notice issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that cautioned consumers against buying or eating certain batches of baby formula products made by Abbott.
The day before, Abbott said it was recalling powdered baby formulas, including Similac, made at a Michigan facility after four consumers complained about bacterial infections in infants who consumed them.
China Customs said while the affected formula products were not directly sold in China, some consumers who may have bought them from abroad via cross-border e-commerce should stop using them.
One item, however, a Similac human milk fortifier which was affected by the issue, had been sold in China and Abbott had issued a voluntary recall of the affected batch, it added.
Abbott, whose shares fell about 3.1% on Monday, said in a statement it had issued a recall for a batch from the Michigan factory and that other items it sold in China were not affected.
Following the post by China Customs, other countries have called on consumers to stop using some Abbott formula products.
The Omani Ministry of Health on Monday warned against using two Abbott baby milk powder formulas due to potential bacterial contamination. Oman’s statement followed a similar warning from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority concerning three baby milk powders made by Abbott, according to Saudi state news.
(Reporting by Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh; additional reporting by Roxanne Liu and Richa Naidu; editing by Jason Neely and Tomasz Janowski)
