Parents jam phone lines, websites in wake of powdered Similac recall

By Kaye Spector

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

While worried parents and caregivers jammed phone lines and websites, retailers across the region pulled powdered Similac from their shelves Thursday following a request from the maker of the best-selling infant formula.

Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories recalled nearly 5 million containers of powdered Similac on Wednesday after finding beetles or beetle larvae during an internal quality review of formula made in a Sturgis, Mich., factory.

Abbott was unable to immediately release lot numbers of the affected products because the recall involved several thousand lots, some of which differ by one letter or number, spokeswoman Raquel Powers said. The lot numbers were released by midafternoon Thursday. Go to cleveland.com/business for a list.

Earlier, the company listed a toll-free number and a Web address at which customers could find out if they had the recalled formula. But many callers at midmorning heard a recording directing them to a company web address, which was inaccessible because of heavy Internet traffic.

“It was very upsetting and a frustrating experience,” said Jessica Johnson, of Manchester, Ohio. Johnson, who has a 13-month-old daughter, said she was “frantic” when she heard about the recall this morning.

Johnson said her cousin, who has a 2-month-old, spent three unsuccessful hours on the Internet trying to find out if her infant formula had been recalled. The company spent Thursday beefing up the capacity of its phone lines and website, Powers said. Access had improved somewhat by late afternoon.

Meanwhile, clients of the Ohio Women, Infants & Children program jammed the phone lines at the program's Cleveland office.

Clients were trying to find out what to do because Similac is an authorized food under the WIC program.

WIC participants who had already bought formula were told to contact Abbott Laboratories to make arrangements for exchanges.

Those with coupons for the powder could come to the WIC office and exchange them for coupons for liquid infant formula, which is not part of the recall.

"I feel for my participants," said Barbara Riley, general manager of public health for WIC's Cleveland office. "They bought the formula and they can't replace any of it."

Callers also jammed the call center at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, a telephone triage center that represents physicians after hours.

Call volume was up 15 percent from the same time a week earlier, said medical director Dr. Andrew Hertz. Many of the nurses who staff the center said they took calls about the recall asking for advice or whether they should switch formulas.

Consuming small parts of insects or their larvae is not a significant health threat to children, Hertz said.

Even Abbott Laboratories' information saying infants could experience gastrointestinal discomfort or may refuse to eat as a result of small insect parts irritating the G.I. tract probably is a "worst-case scenario," Hertz said.

"I'm not even sure there would be gas," Hertz said.

Abbott Laboratories said that although more than 99.8 percent of the product from the Sturgis factory tested negative, the recall was issued as a precaution.

Retailers such as Heinen's, Giant Eagle and Dave's Supermarkets removed Similac products Thursday morning after receiving an e-mailed request from the formula maker.

"We have also implemented register sales block for the items, ensuring that none are inadvertently purchased," Giant Eagle spokesman Erik Yorke said in an e-mail. The stores also called customers who purchased the recalled items with their Giant Eagle Advantage card.

New powdered Similac is expected to be shipped in about a week, Powers said.