Abbott Laboratories reportedly faces U.S. criminal probe - CNBC

Abbott Laboratories is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, the company confirmed Friday, almost a year after it shut down a Michigan baby-formula plant after illnesses were reported.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Friday that the Justice Department was investigating conduct at Abbott's plant in Sturgis, Michigan, citing people familiar with the matter who it did not name.

Four infants, two of whom died, were sickened by a rare bacteria after consuming powdered formula made at Abbott's Michigan factory.

The Food and Drug Administration said when the proposed consent decree was announced that "the government alleges that powdered infant formula products manufactured at Abbott Nutrition's Sturgis facility were adulterated because they were made under insanitary conditions and in violation of current good manufacturing practice requirements."

Production at the Michigan factory, which makes three of the country's most popular brands — Similac, Alimentum and EleCare — resumed in June.

The company also said the lack of a genetic match between sick infants and the formula confirmed its own internal testing showing there was no link, and it said it has not found the bacteria in any of its distributed products.