Similac Pro-Advance is currently the bestselling powdered baby formula on Amazon.
A product entry for it boasts 7,005 global ratings, 91% of which are five-star.
Our team came across the listing while looking into brown clumps in infant formulas.
In keeping with an overall excellent rating, many of the most recent reviews we read are indeed positive.
It’s the sub-five-star recent reviews that appear concerning and possibly connected.
Bad batch. Beware. Check the expiration. Something’s a bit off. My son ended up in the ER.
Of the 30 most recent reviews shared, from Aug. 23 to Nov. 10, a fair number mention packages or canisters dented or open upon arrival, while others mention a $50 discount that was running which customers were happy to have received. (Fifty dollars off of the price currently listed would be a 38% discount.)
Interspersed among these are the reviews that share adverse reactions.
- Parent says formula he received caused his newborn to projectile vomit and get sick.
- Parent says powder is clumped up upon arrival and smells unlike any of 20 other Similac powders they previously purchased in person. It “didn’t have a smell whatsoever.”
- Parent says her 9-month-old son has been on this formula since birth but that the first time she buys it online, he falls ill, throws up, and has diarrhea. Symptoms resolve when she buys the formula elsewhere.
- Parent says the product made their son sick and he ended up in the emergency room.
- Parent says the product arrived with an expiration date that is “very near.”
- Another writes simply, “This is not Similac Pro Advance. Made my daughter very very ill.”
- Parent says fussy and gassy baby curls into a ball after feeding, despite no prior adverse reactions.
While it is impossible to tell what actually occurred here, it’s worth calling attention to due to the potential safety issues that would be involved if there is a bad batch of product somewhere along the line.
Perhaps bad returns were accepted, a product near expiration was put on sale, or old formula was found in some part of the warehousing network. Again, it’s impossible to say. The product entry, listed now at $129, is for a 3-pack.
Alphabeautics reached out to manufacturer Abbott Laboratories via email and social media early Friday but has yet to hear back. Abbott’s Similac offers customers a way to contact the company but says that system isn’t designed to respond to product complaints.
