WASHINGTON, June 5, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Production resumed Saturday at an Abbott
Nutrition baby formula plant in the US whose closure helped fuel a crippling
nationwide shortage.

The facility in Sturges, Michigan has met initial government sanitary
requirements for reopening, the company said in a statement.

The plant, a major producer of formula, shut down and issued a product recall
in February after the death of two babies raised concerns over contamination.

Subsequent shortages were particularly worrying to parents of infants with
allergies or with certain metabolic conditions. They desperately scoured
stores and online sources for the specialized formulas.

Their concerns became so acute that President Joe Biden met virtually this
week with infant-food executives and insisted his administration was doing
everything it could to help.

The crisis, coming at a time when soaring inflation and supply-chain delays
have fanned a growing sense of unease among many ordinary Americans, has been
seized on by Biden critics to question the competence of his administration.

- 'Working hard' -

Abbott, which controls about 40 percent of the US baby food market, said
Saturday that it was restarting production of its hypoallergenic EleCare
formula and that the product should be back on store shelves around June 20.

"We're also working hard to fulfill the steps necessary to restart production
of Similac and other formulas," Abbott said. "We will ramp production as
quickly as we can while meeting all requirements."

The formula shortages, initially caused by supply chain blockages and a lack
of workers due to the pandemic, were exacerbated when Abbott closed its
Sturges plant.

The plant was shut down amid complaints the plant lacked adequate protections
against contamination from bacteria -- complaints echoed after a six-week
inspection by US Food and Drug Administration agents.

"Frankly, the inspection results were shocking," FDA chief Robert Califf told
members of a House subcommittee last month.

There was standing water in key equipment that presented "the potential for
bacterial contamination," plus leaks in the roof and a lack of basic hygiene
facilities, he said.

But Abbott officials, while apologizing for the formula shortage, have said
there is no conclusive evidence linking the formula to infant illnesses or
deaths.

For Biden, the issue had blown up into a political maelstrom.

He told reporters Wednesday that he was only informed about the looming
problem in early April and that he had pulled all the levers of government to
resolve shortages ever since.

"I don't think anyone anticipated the impact of the shutdown of one
facility," Biden said at a virtual meeting with the executives from five
companies helping to take up the slack caused by Abbott's problems.

"Once we learned the extent of it and how broad it was, it kicked everything
into gear," Biden said.

However, some executives said they had been able to tell immediately in
February that a crisis was imminent.

"We knew from the very beginning," said Robert Cleveland, a senior vice
president at Reckitt.

Other executives taking part in the video session represented Gerber,
ByHeart, Bubs Australia and Perrigo. Notably absent was anyone from Abbott.