New mother Monica Grigorescu felt helpless and scared when her 8-month-old son, Phillip, was sick for three days, and she blames expired baby formula.
“My purpose, I’m a first time mom, is to protect him,” Grigorescu said. “You try your best. You give him expired formula. You just sit there watching your baby cry.”
Grigorescu, who lives in Seattle, Washington, said she ordered baby formula from Amazon. Thirty minutes after a late night feeding, she said Phillip started vomiting.
She said the next morning she realized the formula was three months past its “Use by” date.
While she wasn’t able to confirm it, Grigorescu believes the expired formula made Phillip sick.
She isn’t the only who has purchased expired formula.
Through a search of Facebook, Channel 9 found dozens of posts and pictures with the same cautionary tale.
The “use by” date is always printed at the bottom of the packaging. The FDA requires it to be printed on bottles and containers because the formula loses its nutrients after the past due date.
U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, D-New York, also shares the same concerns as Grigorescu.
“Most of the time people have no clue stores in America are allowed to sell expired formula,” Meng said.
So Meng wrote a bill that goes a step farther than what the FDA requires.
It would give expired formula a special classification, making it illegal for stores and manufacturers to sell and distribute formula after the “use by” date.
“It really should be the responsibility of the store to sell a product that is safe for our babies and safe for American families,” Meng said.
If the bill becomes law, companies that sell expired baby formula could be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. Executives could even face jail time.
Amazon issued Grigorescu a refund for the formula.
It sent a statement saying, “Customer safety is our highest priority and, when appropriate, we remove a product and reach out to sellers, manufacturers and government agencies.”
Amazon did not say whether any action was taken in response to Grigorescu’s situation.
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