Facility

Abbott Nutrition — Sturgis Infant Formula Manufacturing Plant (Sturgis, Michigan, USA)

Abbott Nutrition's Sturgis, Michigan manufacturing facility — the primary production site for Similac powdered infant formula (the #1 US infant formula brand). Sturgis was the site of the 2022 US infant formula crisis: FDA inspections found Cronobacter sakazakii bacterial contamination; Abbott issued a voluntary recall in February 2022 and shut the plant for ~4.5 months. Because Sturgis produced approximately 40% of all US powdered infant formula, and because US infant formula import certification barriers prevented rapid foreign-source substitution, a single facility closure triggered a national infant formula shortage affecting millions of infants. The Sturgis facility resumed production in late June 2022 under an FDA consent decree with enhanced environmental monitoring requirements. The US infant formula market's extreme concentration (Abbott + Mead Johnson/Reckitt + Nestlé USA accounting for 80%+ of supply) and import barriers (WIC contract system, FDA foreign facility registration) created a structural fragility that the 2022 crisis exposed.