CVS pulls Enfamil powdered baby formula from shelves after mom finds tampered product

Josh Hafner | USA TODAY

Pharmacy retailer CVS has pulled Enfamil powdered baby formula from shelves nationwide after a Florida mother found what appeared to be all-purpose flour in a package she purchased near Tampa.

WFTS reported Alison Denning purchased Enfamil baby formula from a CVS in Pinellas County before noticing something strange: While a protective seal on the package's lid seemed intact, an interior seal had been opened, and it smelled like flour.

"I’m not a doctor so I can’t say exactly what straight up flour would do to an eight-week-old infant but I can’t imagine it’s very good for them,” Denning told the station.

Denning contacted manufacturer Mead Johnson and shipped the product to them last week for testing, according to WFTS. CVS and the county sheriff's office announced their own investigations.

After pulling Enfamil products from the store Denning visited, CVS said in that it removed the powder from stores nationwide but expected "to resume the sale of these products by end of day tomorrow."

An internal review found no related problems in markets outside of Tampa, Florida, CVS said.

Enfamil similarly described Denning's case an "isolated incident" to WFTS.

The incident echoed an Enfamil mishap reported earlier this month: Chelsea Bellinger, an Arizona mother, awoke to get a bottle of Enfamil formula when she noticed clumps in the liquid, KVOA reported. She realized it was flour, but not before her infant daughter who earlier drank it became sick for days.

Another Arizona mother pleaded guilty last year after allegedly replacing baby formula with flour to collect refunds in a money-making scheme that involved multiple stores, according to the Associated Press.

Follow Josh Hafner on Twitter: @joshhafner

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