Cedar Falls Walmart Not Joining National Removal of Enfamil Baby Formula From Shelves

Walmart is voluntarily removing Enfamil Newborn powdered baby formula from 3,000 of its stores after a Missouri infant who was fed the product bought from a Walmart died of a rare bacterial infection on Sunday.

Cedar Falls had not joined the product removal as of 3 p.m. Wednesday, store assistant manager Chad Burgart said.

“If they don’t put in a recall for us we don’t have any reason to take it off the shelves,” he said, saying the store would wait for direction from Walmart headquarters.

He said sometimes products that are pulled from shelves come from certain warehouses or from certain date codes, which helps determine why certain stores might remove a product while others do not.

He said he checked the list of affected warehouses, and the Mount Pleasant warehouse, which services Cedar Falls, was not on the list.

"We'll keep checking on it everyday in case they expand the list," he said.

Walmart stores in Iowa City and Coralville have removed the product from their shelves.

The Lebanon Daily Record reports that the investigation continues into the death of 10-day old Avery Cornett, from a bacterial disease known as Cronobacter sakazakii, which can sometimes be found in contaminated baby formula.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we have removed the remaining product from that store's shelves and we are also notifying all other stores across the country to remove product of the same lot number as well," Walmart spokesperson Dianna Gee told The Daily Record.

Walmart’s removal of the product is voluntary, and was not requested by the federal government. The formula’s maker, Mead Johnson Nutrition, said that the particular batch tested negative for bacteria before it was sent.

Walmart said the formula has been pulled from the shelves for precautionary reasons until the investigation is concluded, and concerned customers can return their product for a full refund.