For Abbott, which accounts for one fifth of the local milk powder supply, its largest milk powder factory in the United States once again gives the company a “headache”.
The “milk powder shortage” in the United States has lasted for several months. The latest situation is that the Sturgis factory in Abbott, Michigan, which just returned to work, was shut down again due to the impact of the storm. Its EleCare special formula milk powder has stopped production at present.
Will the shutdown of Abbott’s largest milk powder factory in the United States cause an “uproar” as last time? Xiaoshidai takes you to have a look.
Stop production again
On June 15 local time in the United States, Abbott announced that its Sturgis plant was partially flooded recently due to sudden heavy rainfall and storm weather in southwest Michigan. It has stopped the production of EleCare special formula milk powder to assess the losses caused by the storm, and cleaned and re disinfected the plant. (Note: EleCare milk powder is an amino acid formula for infants with food allergy)
At the same time, it has notified the US Food and Drug Administration (hereinafter referred to as “FDA”) that it will cooperate with an independent third party to conduct a comprehensive test to ensure that the factory can resume production safely. This may delay the production and distribution of new products for several weeks.
Sturgis plant, Abbott, MI
Abbott also said that according to the historical demand and current forecast, Abbott’s existing EleCare milk powder and most of its special formulas and nutritional formulas for metabolic deficiency are in sufficient supply, which can meet the needs of consumers for such products before the new products are launched. These products will be provided to consumers in need in coordination with healthcare professionals.
Abbott said it would produce 8.7 million pounds of infant formula for the United States in June, equivalent to 168.2 million times of feeding (6 ounces each time). This is 95% of the products produced by Abbott in January, before the milk powder recall “storm”, and does not include the products produced by Sturgis factory in Michigan.
Abbott promised in the statement, “once the factory re disinfects and resumes production, we will start to produce EleCare milk powder again, followed by the production of special formula milk powder and nutritional formula products for metabolic deficiency. At the same time, we will restart the production of Similac milk powder in the factory as soon as possible.”
“Heavy rain”
For the shutdown, Abbott explained in a statement yesterday that the entire southwest of Michigan has been damaged by strong winds, hail, power outages and floods. Heavy rainfall accumulated a large amount of rainwater in a short time, flooding the drainage system of Sturgis City, Michigan. As a result, some areas of the city were waterlogged, and local factories were not spared.
In the face of bad weather, Abbott took decisive shutdown action this time, which is in contrast to previous FDA findings. Before the “milk powder shortage” in the United States, FDA inspected Sturgis factory in Abbott, Michigan, and found problems of ponding and lax sanitation procedures. At that time, inspectors provided suggestions for them to voluntarily deal with these problems.
雅培CEO罗赋德（Robert Ford）
The snack generation once introduced that Robert Ford, Abbott’s CEO, wrote an article in the US media last month, including “major investment” in milk powder
Luofude said that Abbott plans to expand the production capacity of formula products, increase production facilities and create the required inventory to avoid the shutdown of key products such as EleCare. Due to the lack of more details about “major investment”, it is not clear whether this includes
As for the latest announcement of Abbott, Reuters believes that the suspension announced on Wednesday marks the recent reopening of the
Speed up air transport
虽然雅培密歇根州Sturgis工厂再度陷入“停摆”，但是由于美国正在全力应对“奶粉荒”，大规模断货的危机或不至于重演。当地时间6月15日，美国FDA更新了其婴儿配方奶粉供应情况。
According to the latest information, the United States has imported Mead Johnson milk powder base powder from Singapore, which is owned by Li Jie Shi, for the production of Mead Johnson Enfamil (stage 1) ordinary infant formula. It is estimated that 5.7 million cans can be produced. The finished product will be used to fulfill the contractual obligations of the special supplementary nutrition program (WIC) for women, infants and children.
US FDA
小食代了解到，这批基粉将于6月开始运送到明尼苏达州的工厂，以生产最终产品，成品将在未来几周内提供。此外，该基粉每月发货，后续发货将持续到11月份。美国卫生与公众服务部正在评估尽快将该产品运往美国的方案。
It is not difficult to find that the US FDA is using a variety of flexibility measures to support the supply of products as the sole source of nutrition for many infants, while ensuring that infant formula can be used safely and provide adequate nutrition for infants. FDA is still in further discussions with manufacturers and suppliers on additional supplies to ensure that sufficient infant formula can be provided to U.S. parents and caregivers whenever and wherever possible.
In addition, the snack agency learned that the US authorities recently announced the seventh mission of the “operation fly formula”, which will assist in transporting about 548000 bottles (8 ounces per bottle) of Nestle alfamino and alfamino junior special infant formula milk powder to the United States this week. This batch of milk powder may exceed 44000 pounds.
It is reported that Nestle’s formula milk powder will be shipped from Switzerland to Kentucky on Thursday. More deliveries will be announced in the next few days. Nestle plans to export about 42million 8-ounce bottles of formula milk powder to the U.S. market.
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