Milwaukee baby sickened after formula swapped with flour at gas station

MILWAUKEE – In a rush to get her 3-month-old baby formula, Tene Fowlkes said her partner ran to a gas station nearby.

“Nothing was open. I knew the store around the corner sold milk,” Fowlkes said.

But it wasn’t formula…

What they’re saying:

The next morning, her baby was still fussy. And then, Fowlkes saw what was in the bottle.

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“I looked at it, and it was like – sluggish, off – it was foggy,” Fowlkes said.

Fowlkes said it was flour. In a panic, they took their child to the hospital for infant poisoning.

“It was in the moment, she was hungry,” Fowlkes said.

The baby suffered constipation but is okay. Fowlkes said they brought the container back to the gas station, but it is still not clear how this happened.

Incident reported

Dig deeper:

FOX6 News went to the gas station to ask. The owner said the state is investigating the situation because, as a vendor, he reported it to WIC – the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. He said that due to the investigation, he could not comment further.

“Formula is expensive, times are hard,” Fowlkes said.

Fowlkes admitted they did not know if it was sealed. She said, even in a bind, always check.

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“It only takes a couple seconds to make sure the seal is on there. And if not, take it back even if the baby is upset,” Fowlkes said.

The family said they sent a sample of the faulty formula to the FDA and are waiting for those results to come back.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Christina Van Zelst and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.