Abbott is relaunching baby food production at its Michigan plant, which was shut down due to sanitary violations and has led to an acute shortage of these products in the country.
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In May, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the company agreed on a plan to restart production.
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“Abbott is resuming infant formula production today at its Sturgis, Michigan, facility after meeting initial FDA-approved requirements,” Abbott said in a statement posted on the company’s website Saturday.
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The first batches of infant formula from the factory are expected to hit the market on June 20th.
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“We will ramp up production as quickly as we can while meeting all requirements,” the company assured.
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Although Abbott is only one of four major US baby food manufacturers, the shutdown of its Michigan plant a few months ago caused a domino effect in the area, coinciding with supply chain problems. The reason for the temporary closure of the enterprise was the discovery of bacterial infections in several children who ate the company’s infant formula. The shortfall in the US infant formula market rose from 8% in February to over 40% in May. To combat the shortage, US authorities are trying to stimulate other companies to increase production domestically, and also import infant formula from abroad.
