In 2022, the FTC kicked off an investigation into whether or not individuals of child formula marketplace — which it mentioned is ruled via a small quantity of producers — coordinated within the bidding procedure to take care of keep an eye on of markets in states the place they remained dominant. The company mentioned the firms could be incentivized to take action as a result of gross sales thru executive formula program can spice up industrial gross sales.
Nestlé, which produces Gerber formula, informed The Washington Post that the corporate has won an information request from the FTC and has replied. Reckitt Benckiser informed The Post that whilst it does now not touch upon explicit executive investigations, it complies with regulatory and enforcement company requests “as a matter of principle.”
An Abbott spokesman informed The Post it was once cooperating with the FTC’s requests. In a February letter to the FTC, a legal professional for Abbott wrote that the corporate is “unaware of any evidence that creates even a hint of collusion or coordination.”
Last February, contamination at an Abbott Nutrition manufacturing plant in Michigan ended in a formula scarcity that was once exacerbated via pandemic comparable provide chain problems.
The Justice Department has opened a prison investigation into the Abbott plant in Sturgis, Mich., which closed after 4 small children fell in poor health, with two of them death, after eating powdered formula manufactured there. Abbott mentioned in January that it was once cooperating.
The Jan. 27 report detailing the FTC’s probe didn’t explicitly point out the incident or formula scarcity, even supposing it did spotlight that Abbott controls 48 % of “a highly concentrated market.”
Four formula manufacturers — Abbott, Reckitt, Nestlé and Perrio — keep an eye on 90 % of the formula marketplace, CNBC reported last May.