American group Abbott has agreed with the justice system to restart its production of baby milk at its Michigan site, to reduce the shortage of this important product for babies, the group and the American Department of Justice announced Monday.
The United States is experiencing a very rare situation of infant milk shortage that has caused concern to millions of parents.
Initially caused by supply chain problems and labor shortages due to the pandemic, the shortage worsened when an Abbott manufacturer’s factory in Michigan closed in February, following the recall of products suspected of causing the deaths of two babies. .
The United States Medicines Agency (FDA) cleaned the milk, but found 483 irregularities about the plant, Abbott said Friday, stressing he had immediately began to implement corrections.
The Justice Department and Abbott said in a separate statement that the deal still needs to be clarified by a judge.
But the manufacturer, one of the major players in the infant milk market, hopes to reopen its plant in Michigan within two weeks. He reiterated that it was necessary 6 to 8 weeks before the products get off the shelves.
Until then, it will continue to import baby milk from its factory in Ireland to try to reduce shortages in the United States.
We know that millions of parents and carers depend on us and we are deeply saddened that our voluntary recall has exacerbated the breast milk shortage across the country.the group’s reaction on Monday.
We will work hard to regain the trust that moms, dads and caregivers have placed in our powders for over 50 years.He added.
In a separate statement, the head of FDARobert Califf, indicated that this agreement meant that Abbott agreed to fix certain issues identified by the agency at its production plant.
He added that his services evaluate available supply from manufacturers in the United States and around the world. to determine if it is possible to reassign their distribution to deliver the right product to the right place at the right time.
Datasembly, a data provider, revealed on May 10 that the out-of-stock rate of infant milk formula had reached 43% by the end of last week. It exceeds 50% in some regions of the country.
The White House continues to engage with four major manufacturers Reckitt, Abbott, Nestlé/Gerber and Perrigo, to identify barriers to transportation, logistics and suppliers to increase production. […] and ensuring products reach retailers faster, an official said.
The Biden administration is in continuous communication with Target, Amazon, Walmart […] to identify areas of the country that may be at critical supply riskaccording to the same source.
Source: Radio-Canada