Our History

Mead Johnson Nutrition: A Century of Caring

Mead Johnson & Company was founded in 1905 in Jersey City, New Jersey, by Edward Mead Johnson, Sr. E. Mead launched his business after leaving Johnson & Johnson, which he had co-founded with his brothers.

Mead Johnson & Company introduced its first major infant feeding product in 1910 and followed it the next year with the product that would set the company on its path to leadership in infant and children's nutrition. A carbohydrate milk-modifier, Dextri-Maltose® became the first clinically supported, physician recommended infant feeding product in the United States.

In 1915, the company relocated to Evansville, Indiana to have better access to the raw materials needed to manufacture Dextri-Maltose.

Over the next several decades, Mead Johnson built upon its leadership in science-based nutrition, introducing many innovative infant feeding products while expanding into vitamins, pharmaceutical products, and enteral and parenteral nutrition.

Historic firsts in the U.S.

Some of the company's products brought such significant improvements in quality of life that they became cultural icons of their times. Others, developed in cooperation with clinicians and leading nutrition researchers, established a partnership between Mead Johnson and the scientific community that continues to this day.

In addition to Dextri-Maltose, other historic products include:

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1924

Cod Liver Oil: The first standardized cod liver oil, a source of vitamins A and D.

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1933

Pablum¹: The first precooked, vitamin- and mineral-fortified instant cereal for babies. At just cents per serving, Pablum offered parents an affordable, nutritious food for babies.

¹Registered trademark now owned by an entity unrelated to Mead Johnson & Company.

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1942

Nutramigen®: The first protein hydrolysate, hypoallergenic infant formula.

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1949

Vi-Sol®: The first water-soluble infant vitamins in drop-dosage form.

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1958

Lofenalac®: The first commercially available infant feeding product for the management of persons with phenylketonuria.

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1959

Enfamil®: Mead Johnson's first routine infant formula designed to be patterned after the nutritional composition of human milk.

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1965

ProSobee®: The first infant formula in the U.S. with soy protein isolated from whole soy flour.

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1971

Pregestimil®: An infant formula designed for babies with problems absorbing fat due to specific medical conditions.

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1983

Enfamil® Human Milk Fortifier: The first additive designed to increase the nutrient content of human milk.

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1993

LactoFree®: The first milk-based, lactose-free infant formula in the U.S.

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2000

Enfamil® A+: The first Mead Johnson infant formula product to include DHA and ARA, important nutrients that are found in breast milk and that are critical for brain and eye development. Enfamil A+ was first introduced in Hong Kong.

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2002

Enfamil® LIPIL®: The first infant formula in the U.S. to include DHA and ARA.

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2004

Expecta® LIPIL® DHA Supplement: For pregnant and nursing moms.

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2005

Enfamil® Gentlease® LIPIL®: The first infant formula in the U.S. to combine a mixture of partially broken-down whey and casein proteins, reduced lactose, and LIPIL, Mead Johnson's blend of DHA and ARA.

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2008

Nutramigen®AA™ LIPIL®: An amino acid-based formula designed for infants and toddlers with severe cow's milk or multiple food protein allergies.

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2009

Two new innovative formulas with scientifically-proven benefits.

Enfamil® PREMIUM™ with Triple Health Guard™: The clinically-proven formula to support your baby's development in all three important ways — growth, brain and eye, and immune system.

Nutramigen® with Enflora™ LGG is the first and only dual-action formula for the dietary management of infants with cow's milk protein allergy.

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Mead Johnson: A Global Company

Although Mead Johnson was founded in the United States and continues to maintain its worldwide headquarters there, it is a global company with more than 70 products in over 50 countries.

In fact, the company's global aspirations were launched long before the world was a place of true global commerce. Canada, which was assigned its first Mead Johnson sales representative in 1907, became the company's first market outside the U.S., with a separate Canadian organization established in 1922.

During the 1940s, Mead Johnson began establishing wholly-owned subsidiaries in Mexico and Latin America, where it had already been operating successful export businesses. That expansion continued, extending into Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Rim, until 1967, when the company was acquired by Bristol-Myers Company, which later merged with Squibb Corporation.

During the decades that followed, Mead Johnson's transformation into a global company continued. While market-specific products were developed to meet customers' needs in individual countries, existing products were expanded into new markets. During the same time, the Enfamil® name grew to be recognized worldwide for its family of infant nutritional products and for its leadership in pediatric nutrition.

On February 11, 2009, Mead Johnson Nutrition became a publicly traded company, listed as "MJN" on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Today, Mead Johnson's global growth progresses, as the company continues to pursue innovation in science-based nutrition on behalf of infants, parents, and health care professionals throughout the world.

Our Founder: Edward Mead Johnson, Sr.

Mead Johnson & Company was established in 1905 by Edward Mead Johnson, Sr., a successful New Jersey businessman who wanted to create products that helped people live healthier lives.

E. Mead was well-qualified to embark on this new venture, having been one of the founding brothers of the surgical-bandage company Johnson & Johnson.

In 1895, while still in business with his brothers, E. Mead acted on his growing interest in nutritional products and formed The American Ferment Company to manufacture a product designed to aid digestion. Two years later, he parted from his brothers to focus on this venture, re-establishing it as Mead Johnson & Company in 1905.

By friends and family alike, E. Mead was regarded as a man of vision. Where others saw only facts, E. Mead saw ideas and possibilities—and he invested himself in making them happen. He persevered, too, even during times of adversity and economic downturn. When World War I cut off the supply of his most important product ingredient, he moved his company hundreds of miles away from New Jersey to Evansville, Indiana. There, nestled among the cornfields of the Midwest, he rebuilt his business—almost from the ground up—struggling arduously for several years to overcome the challenges of starting over.

E. Mead's success and customer-understanding were rooted not only in his insights as a businessman but also in his experiences as a father. The life-threatening feeding difficulties experienced by his oldest son, Ted, inspired E. Mead to develop Dextri-Maltose®, a specialty carbohydrate product that became the company's first major success.

Ted grew up to play important sales and marketing roles in the company's future. E. Mead's son Lambert and grandson D. Mead carried his work even further. Lambert became the company's longest-serving president, leading the business from 1934 until 1955. D. Mead, Ted's son, succeeded Lambert, serving as president until 1968.

After Edward Mead Johnson, Sr. retired as president, he spent his remaining years doing the things he loved best: golfing, deep-sea fishing, and spending time with his friends and family. On March 13, 1934, at the age of 81, he died suddenly of a heart attack while dining with his wife and their guests.

The company's 1934 annual report remembered E. Mead:

Pioneer, Leader, Friend: You will continue to live with us in spirit and guide our earnest efforts to carry on your work. We, the directors of the institution you founded and enduringly built, loyally pledge ourselves to uphold the high ideals you inspired in our minds and hearts.

In addition to leadership in nutrition, E. Mead's legacy includes great generosity to his adopted community of Evansville. Just one example was the purchase and donation of a building to an organization that fed sick babies. E. Mead fully equipped the facility and donated infant feeding products, stipulating that the arrangement be kept secret until his death.

For that act of kindness and many others, E. Mead was honored in 1928 with the local Rotary Club's annual award for community service.

His contribution to Evansville and his role as a visionary business leader were recognized even more recently, in 2007, by the Evansville Business Journal. More than 60 years after his death, Edward Mead Johnson, Sr. was inducted as a laureate and local icon of commerce and industry into the journal's Business Hall of Fame.

With Mead Johnson Nutrition now in its second century of leadership in nutrition, the company remains committed to the values and ideals established at its beginning.

E. Mead's legacy endures.