From NYpost.com…
The FDA “dropped the ball’’ on the country’s baby-formula crisis — shutting down a crucial plant on top of product recalls and then not warning parents of the ramifications, experts told The Post on Friday.
Desperate moms and dads have been trawling stores across the country in search of baby formula ever since mega-manufacturer Abbott issued a safety recall in February for products made at its plant in Sturgis, Mich., over contamination concerns.
The Food and Drug Administration later closed the plant after federal inspectors found Abbott failed to maintain sanitary conditions and procedures there — sparking a cascade of crippling effects on the supply chain.
“Somebody, whether it be Abbott or the FDA, should have realized, ‘We’re stopping production at one of a handful of plants that produces baby formula and what are the repercussions,’ ’’ said William Marler, a lawyer specializing in food-safety cases, to The Post.
“That’s where the FDA and Abbott dropped the ball. … They could have recalled the product without shutting the facility. They do recalls all the time without shutting the facility down.”
Manhattan mom Amy Daly, 38, of the Upper West Side lamented Friday that she was forced to take her 11-month-old baby Alice off infant formula early when the shortage hit.
