Justice Department Investigating Abbott Infant Formula Plant

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into operations at the Abbott Nutrition infant formula plant in Michigan that shut down over sanitation problems early last year, causing a lengthy and widespread infant formula shortage.

The company confirmed the investigation in an email but offered no further details, other than that it was “cooperating fully,” according to an Abbott spokesman.

The plant, in Sturgis, Mich., came to national attention in 2022 after the Food and Drug Administration, while fielding reports of infants sickened by formula produced there, found strikingly unsanitary conditions, including puddles of water on the floor near production lines. In February, the agency urged the company to recall Similac and other widely used infant formulas, F.D.A. records show. Abbott voluntarily ceased production at the plant for several months.

Baby formula was already somewhat scarce because of pandemic-related supply chain issues, but the Abbott recall made the situation much worse. Stunned parents reported hunting for hours to find formula needed to feed their infants. By May, President Biden was deploying military planes to airlift infant formula into the United States.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/21/business/justice-abbott-infant-formula-investigation.html