The country’s main factory was closed due to ill health after the death of two babies, causing serious inventory shortages.
The CEO of baby milk maker Abbott on Saturday apologized to American families affected by shortages of this essential infant product, made worse by the closure of one of the company’s factories in the United States. “We feel sorry for all the families we have left since our voluntary recall has exacerbated our country’s infant formula shortage,” CEO Robert Ford told the Washington Post.
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The United States has had a baby milk shortage for several months, caused by supply and labor problems related to Covid-19 and then exacerbated by the closure of an Abbott plant in Michigan in February after a product recall allegedly killed two infants. “It’s tragic and heartbreaking,” Ford said. He also noted the group’s establishment of a “$5 million fund” for the families of children hospitalized after consuming the milk.
Milk imports from Europe
Regarding the shortage, Abbott claims to have “taken serious action,” such as converting the adult-products production lines at its Columbus, Ohio, plant to “prioritize the production” of baby milk. The group also imports milk from their factory in Ireland. And after an agreement with the American judiciary, which still has to be validated by a judge, the plant in Michigan should reopen within two weeks. “By the end of June, we will be making more infant formula available to Americans than we were in January before the recall,” Abbott’s CEO said. “After all, we are making significant investments so that something like this never happens again,” he promised.
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Joe Biden signed legislation Saturday that allows certain regulatory requirements to be bypassed “to make it easier for people to access the baby food they need,” he said in a tweet. He announced on Wednesday the establishment of an airlift and the application of a Cold War law to try to solve a deficiency that has become a political headache for his administration. A White House official on Friday announced a first flight carrying 132 pallets of Nestlé-branded milk this weekend between Germany and Indianapolis, Indiana.