{"id":29505,"date":"2025-12-05T09:34:42","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T14:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&#038;p=29505"},"modified":"2026-03-26T09:35:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T13:35:36","slug":"sen-ossoff-demanding-answers-from-baby-formula-producer-byheart-after-reports-of-contamination","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sen-ossoff-demanding-answers-from-baby-formula-producer-byheart-after-reports-of-contamination\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen.\u00a0Ossoff Demanding Answers from Baby Formula Producer\u00a0ByHeart\u00a0After\u00a0Reports of\u00a0Contamination\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Washington, D.C.&nbsp;<\/strong>\u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is working to protect Georgia families from contaminated baby formula.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. Ossoff&nbsp;is demanding answers from baby formula producer&nbsp;ByHeart&nbsp;following&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/food\/outbreaks-foodborne-illness\/outbreak-investigation-infant-botulism-infant-formula-november-2025#:~:text=Product:,to%20develop%20following%20formula%20ingestion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent&nbsp;reports<\/a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;potential&nbsp;contamination&nbsp;in their products&nbsp;that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned could lead to infant botulism.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the&nbsp;CDC,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/botulism\/about\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">botulism&nbsp;is a rare but serious illness<\/a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;can&nbsp;cause&nbsp;difficulty breathing, muscle paralysis, and even death.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All&nbsp;ByHeart&nbsp;infant formula&nbsp;had&nbsp;been recalled&nbsp;in the wake of these reports.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cInfant formula is essential for parents feeding their newborns, regardless of whether the formula&nbsp;is used exclusively or as a supplement,\u201d&nbsp;<strong>Sen. Ossoff wrote&nbsp;to&nbsp;ByHeart&nbsp;Chief Executive Officer Ron&nbsp;Belldegrun.&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cEvery parent wants to ensure that their infants are being fed in a way that is both safe and healthy.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cChildren are simply precious.&nbsp;They\u2019re&nbsp;everything to us. Their safety and well-being, including&nbsp;the safety of formula consumed by infants, are our highest concerns,\u201d&nbsp;<strong>Sen. Ossoff&nbsp;wrote.<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to data from the&nbsp;CDC,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dnpao-dtm-cr.services.cdc.gov\/?locationIds=59,13\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">approximately 71% of all infants in Georgia<\/a>&nbsp;had been fed formula (or other supplementation) as at least a&nbsp;portion&nbsp;of their diet&nbsp;through six months of age.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. Ossoff continues&nbsp;working to keep&nbsp;children&nbsp;safe&nbsp;across Georgia.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;April&nbsp;2025, Sen. Ossoff&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sen-ossoff-demanding-answers-from-baby-formula-producers-on-reports-of-lead-contamination\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">demanded&nbsp;answers<\/a>&nbsp;from baby formula producers Abbott Nutrition and Mead Johnson about recent&nbsp;reports&nbsp;of toxic chemicals found in formula.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In May 2025,&nbsp;during a U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration hearing,&nbsp;Sen. Ossoff&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/watch-sen-ossoff-presses-trump-administration-on-infant-formula-safety\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pressed<\/a>&nbsp;Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Martin Makary on the safety of infant formula, including the reported firings of scientists within the agency who work to prevent infant formula contamination.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year, Sen. Ossoff\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sen-ossoff-delivering-resources-to-upgrade-equipment-in-emory-university-hospital-midtowns-nicu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">delivered<\/a>\u202fFederal funding to upgrade Emory University\u2019s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with new equipment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last March, Sen. Ossoff\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sen-ossoff-launches-inquiry-to-keep-georgia-children-safe-from-lead-contamination\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">launched an inquiry<\/a>\u202fwith the Government Accountability Office (GAO) into how the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) conducts testing on products intended for children ages 12 and under for potential lead contamination and other safety hazards.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3262026_91412AM_Letter_to_Ron_Belldegrun_ByHeart_from_Senator_Ossoff.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here\u202f<\/a>to read Sen. Ossoff\u2019s inquiry.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"># # #&nbsp;<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, D.C.&nbsp;\u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is working to protect Georgia families from contaminated baby formula.&nbsp; Sen. Ossoff&nbsp;is demanding answers from baby formula producer&nbsp;ByHeart&nbsp;following&nbsp;recent&nbsp;reports&nbsp;of&nbsp;potential&nbsp;contamination&nbsp;in their products&nbsp;that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned could lead to infant botulism.&nbsp; According to the&nbsp;CDC,&nbsp;botulism&nbsp;is a rare but serious illness&nbsp;that&nbsp;can&nbsp;cause&nbsp;difficulty breathing, muscle paralysis, and even death.&nbsp;&nbsp; All&nbsp;ByHeart&nbsp;infant [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29505","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/29505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/29505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29506,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/29505\/revisions\/29506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}