Baby formula plant at heart of shortage closes days after reopening

The leading baby-formula company at the heart of a national shortage was forced to close its Michigan plant late Wednesday, just days after it had reopened after a forced months-long shutdown.

Abbott Laboratories said its plant — which had only reopened June 4 — was overwhelmed by “severe thunderstorms and heavy rains” that caused “power outages and flood damage throughout” Sturgis, causing widespread flooding.

“As a result, Abbott has stopped production of its EleCare specialty formula that was underway to assess damage caused by the storm and clean and re-sanitize the plant,” the company announced.

“This will likely delay production and distribution of new product for a few weeks,” said the company, the biggest US supplier of powder infant formula.

Still, the company insisted even with “historical demand” it had “ample existing supply of EleCare and most of its specialty and metabolic formulas to meet needs for these products until new product is available.”

Wednesday’s closure was the latest setback for the plant, which was shuttered by the Food and Drug Administration in February after two infants died from a rare bacteria which may have come from the plant.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said the federal agency was “made aware” of the latest closure.

“I personally spoke to the CEO tonight and we discussed our shared desire to get the facility up and running again as quickly as possible,” he tweeted.

Calling it an “unfortunate setback,” Califf insisted there was still “more than enough product to meet current demand.”

“Making sure that parents and caregivers have access to both safe and available infant formula remains a top priority for the FDA, and our teams are working night and day to help make that happen,” he tweeted.