Abbott is announcing Friday their Sturgis, Michigan plant is restarting production of their largest and most popular infant formula, Similac.
Previously, the troubled plant had only restarted a fragment of its production, after bacterial contamination concerns inside the facility had prompted a months-long voluntary recall and shutdown.
The closure at the largest formula manufacturer in the country ricocheted across the infant formula industry and exacerbated the supply shortage, forcing families to scramble for alternatives in the hyper-concentrated formula market.
Then in June -- less than two weeks after it had finally restarted some of its formula production -- severe weather and flooding forced the plant to close once again to "assess damage," "clean and re-sanitize the plant."
In July, Abbott announced they were opening the lines for their specialty hypoallergenic formula, EleCare, along with some metabolic formulas -- but still, not its most popular and widely used Similac.
The company is now announcing it has restarted Similac production, paving the way for an eventual infusion of formula into the U.S. market, once the plant gets back up to full speed -- after what has been a months-long scarcity on American grocery shelves.
The discovery of Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria inside Abbott's Sturgis plant prompted a massive voluntary formula recall in February, after four babies who had consumed Abbott's formula contracted a Cronobacter infection. Two of the infants subsequently died, although Abbott maintains there has not been conclusive evidence that its formula caused the infant illnesses, since none of the Cronobacter strains found at their plant matched the two samples genetically sequenced from the sickened infants. Ultimately, it was the combined findings of Cronobacter inside Abbott's plant -- along with a pattern of serious operational deficiencies and consumer complaints -- which led to its closure.
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