A top Abbott official apologized Wednesday to US families affected by the baby formula shortage, telling them the manufacturer of the essential supply “let you down.”
“We are deeply sorry and are committed to making sure that a shortage like this never happens again,” said Christopher Calamari, the senior vice president of nutrition, in prepared testimony for a congressional committee hearing.
“It will take time” to regain families’ trust, he said, noting that the company is doing everything it can to resolve the crisis.
The United States has been struggling with a severe shortage of infant formula for months.
Initially caused by supply chain blockages and a lack of production workers due to the pandemic, the shortage was exacerbated in February when, after the death of two infants, Abbott announced a “voluntary recall” for formula made at its factory in Michigan and shut down that location.
“We continue to believe that there is no conclusive evidence to link our formula” to the infant illnesses and deaths blamed on the bacteria Cronobacter sakazakii, which was found in certain areas of the Michigan factory, Calamari said.
He said the samples that tested positive from the bacteria were taken from areas that “do not come into direct contact” with the formula.
Abbott’s Michigan plant is one of the largest formula factories in the United States, including specialized recipes for children with certain allergies or metabolic conditions.
The FDA said it has made a series of visits to the Sturgis, Michigan location, the last on March 18.
FDA chief Robert Califf acknowledged that the investigation was slow to start, which he blamed on the pandemic. He said the FDA could not start the probe until late January because of Abbott employees testing positive for Covid-19.
The crisis has gotten so bad that President Joe Biden announced last week that the US government would fly in formula on commercial planes contracted by the military. Biden also invoked the Defense Production Act to give baby formula manufacturers first priority in supplies.
The first military plane carrying several tons of formula from Germany landed Sunday at an airport in Indiana.
