A Texas mother says she made a shocking discovery when she tried to prepare a bottle of formula for her infant son on Monday.
“I was scooping up some formula and then I noticed something black inside the powder,” Austin resident Jessica Chavez told KXAN. “So, I got it out, and it was moving. That’s when I noticed it was a worm.”
Chavez said she bought the formula from Amazon on February 25 and had been using it for several weeks to feed her 8-month-old son, Amato. The name of the product she purchased was Enfamil NeuroPro Gentlease Infant formula.
Chavez contacted Enfamil to report the parasite and was offered a full refund. The product’s manufacturer, Reckitt Mead Johnson Nutrition, arranged to pick up the allegedly contaminated container the next day for further product testing.
The manufacturer issued a statement in response to this discovery.
“At Reckitt/Mead Johnson we take these complaints very seriously. We received the consumer complaint, have been in touch with the consumer directly, and are moving quickly to investigate the situation,” the statement read, as per KXAN.
Chavez also reported that her son had been experiencing diarrhea, but it is unclear at this time whether the issue is related to the alleged worms in the formula. Chavez said she intends to have a waste sample tested for parasites.
In the meantime, Chavez wants other parents to be aware and pay close attention to what is in the formula products they may be using.
“I just want [the warning] to be spread out to moms,” said Chavez, according to KXAN. “It’s shocking … and … it’s really disgusting to know that there’s worms in there.”
Last February, Reckitt announced a voluntary recall of two batches of its Enfamil ProSobee Simply Plant-Based Infant Formula due to possible Cronobacter sakazakii bacterial contamination. No infections or complications related to the product were reported, but the company said it initiated the recall out of “an abundance of caution.”