A US baby formula factory that had recently shut down for a second time this year, compounding a national shortage, reopened on July 1, medical firm Abbott told AFP yesterday.

The plant in Sturgis, Michigan had been closed for several months following a recall of the formula manufactured there, after it had been suspected of causing two infants to die.

Production resumed early last month, but was halted once more days later due to flooding, again delaying deliveries of its EleCare brand of hypoallergenic formula.

“We restarted EleCare production at Sturgis on July 1,” an Abbott spokesman told AFP by email yesterday.

The earlier shutdown had exacerbated a national shortage of some infant formula brands that had been due to Covid-related supply and labour issues.

US President Joe Biden, whose administration has been accused of reacting slowly to the crisis, ordered airlifts to bring in tons of foreign-made baby milk by military aircraft. – AFP, July 10, 2022.