Objective To determine Cronobacter spp.contamination in infant and follow-up powdered formula in China.Methods All of 2282 samples were collected from the retail markets in China from January 2012 to December 2012,and analyzed for Cronobacter spp.by the Chinese National Food Safety Standard.Characterization of the isolates was analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis(PFGE)with XbaI and Spe I restriction enzymes.Results Cronobacter spp.strains were isolated from 25 samples,and the positive rates in infant powdered formulas and follow-up powdered formulas were 0.90%(10/1011)and 1.18%(15/1271),respectively.Analysis of variable data regarding different purchasing store formats,seasonality,and production locations as well as comparison of infant versus follow-up formulas did not reveal statistically significant factors.During the sampling period,one of six surveillance zones did exhibit a statistically significant trend towards higher positive rate.PFGE characterization of Cronobacter spp.to elucidate genetic diversity revealed only three pairs of Cronobacter spp.out of 25 having the same PFGE patterns.Conclusion The current investigation indicated a lower positive rate of Cronobacter spp.in the powdered formula in China.This evidence suggested contamination originating from multiple different sources during the manufacturing process. Objective To determine Cronobacter spp.contamination in infant and follow-up powdered formula in China. Methods All of 2282 samples were collected from the retail markets in China from January 2012 to December 2012, and analyzed for Cronobacter spp.by the Chinese National Food Safety Standard. Characterization of the isolates was analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) with XbaI and Spe I restriction enzymes. Results Cronobacter spp. Strains were isolated from 25 samples, and the positive rates in infant powdered formulas and follow-up powdered formulas were 0.90% (10/1011) and 1.18% (15/1271), respectively. Analysis of variable data regarding different purchasing store formats, seasonality, and production locations as well as comparison of infant versus follow-up formulas did not reveal significant significant factors. During the sampling period, one of six surveillance zones did exhibit a significant significant trend towards higher positive rate. PFGE characterization of Cronobacter s pp. to elucidate genetic diversity revealed only three pairs of Cronobacter spp. out of 25 having the same PFGE patterns. Contact The current investigation indicated a lower positive rate of Cronobacter spp. in the powdered formula in China. This evidence suggests contamination originating from multiple different sources during the manufacturing process.