Abbott Nutrition resumes production of baby formula at Michigan facility following contamination

Empty shelves intended for baby formula at a store in Washington DC in May 2022.
SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images

Abbott Nutrition has restarted production at the Michigan baby formula factory that was shut down in February.
The plant was shut down over concerns of contamination and complaints of illness in infants who consumed the formula.
The shutdown contributed to a nationwide shortage of baby formula, leaving parents frantic.

Abbott Nutrition has restarted production at a Michigan baby formula factory that was previously shut down due to contamination, contributing to a nationwide shortage of formula.

"We will ramp production as quickly as we can while meeting all requirements," Abbott said in a statement. "We're committed to safety and quality and will do everything we can to re-earn the trust parents, caregivers and health care providers have placed in us for 130 years."

Abbott, the largest infant formula manufacturer in the US, said it will take approximately three weeks for products to hit store shelves.

The Abbott Nutrition plant in Sturgis shut down in February following complaints of illness in infants who consumed formula products manufactured there, two of whom later died. The illnesses were linked to the environmental bacteria, cronobacter sakazakii.

On Saturday, Abbott said it will start by prioritizing the production of its EleCare specialty formulas used for infants with allergies and digestive issues, Insider's Sam Tabahriti reported. The company added that it is "working hard to fulfill the steps necessary to restart production of Similac and other formulas and will do so as soon as we can."

The company reached a deal with the FDA in mid-May, agreeing to an FDA inspection at the Sturgis plant and Abbott bringing in outside help to carry out the necessary steps to reopen it.

In May, the Biden administration announced a series of regulatory moves to get baby formula onto store shelves more quickly, pushing agencies to import more baby formula from abroad and directing the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on profiteering.

To address the shortage, an Abbott spokesperson said the company was shipping in products and offered deeply discounted or free products.

"We've air shipped millions of cans of infant formula powder into the U.S. from our FDA-registered facility in Cootehill, Ireland," the spokesperson said. "We have prioritized infant formula production at our Columbus, Ohio, facility, converting other liquid manufacturing lines into manufacturing Similac liquid ready-to-feed."

The spokesperson added: "And our other manufacturing facilities are running at full capacity as we continue to prioritize production of infant formula to help replenish the supply in the market."

According to the Food and Drug Administration, the Sturgis formula production plant had a leaky roof, broken equipment, condensation, and unsanitary surfaces. FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said the plant was "egregiously unsanitary" and allowed bacteria to spread, though the agency was not able to link the infections in the infants directly to the plant.

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