Abbott Laboratories Chinese Infant Formula Violates China National Standards, According to Tests

An infant formula product produced by Abbott Laboratories ABT, failed to reach China national safety standards and tested worst among a selection of six infant formula powders sold on the Chinese market, according to a research report released by Hong Kong-based research house CER Research on Thursday. The release of the research report on Abbott's Similac Stage 1 milk powder product coincided with Chinese media reports Wednesday of a father in the China city of Hangzhou who says he had found half of a condom inside an Abbott milk powder package which he had purchased for his daughter. CER Research said it sent samples of six infant formula products bought in Shanghai and Hong Kong to a professional food testing laboratory, Muva Kempten in Allgau, Germany, for analysis, and had planned to use the Abbott product as a benchmark for quality, on the assumption that it would top the results. "To our surprise, the Abbott product tested the worst of the six samples provided, and well below accepted international and even China standards," said CER Research CEO, Graham Earnshaw.