The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether baby-formula makers colluded on bids for lucrative state contracts.

The agency, in documents posted to its website, said it is looking into whether Abbott Laboratories and other formula manufacturers have “engaged in collusion or coordination with any other market participant regarding the bidding” for state contracts.

The U.S. remains in a vulnerable position and is one disaster from ending up where it was last February when the closing of an infant formula plant sparked a nationwide shortage, according to the Food and Drug Administration’s former top food safety official.

“The nation remains one outbreak, one tornado, flood or cyber-attack away from finding itself in a similar place to that of February 17, 2002,” said Frank Yiannas, the former FDA deputy commissioner for food and policy response.

Earlier this year, during the baby formula crisis, lawmakers introduced two versions of the Fixing Our Regulatory Mayhem Upsetting Little Americans Act. The “fixes” weren’t sufficient. But with that cheeky title, the bill’s authors were on to something.

Ensuring a severe shortage never happens again will require comprehensive improvements in infant formula safety regulation, manufacturing resilience and the diversity of the U.S. formula market itself.

More than six months after one of the largest infant formula manufacturing plants in the United States issued a recall and was then shut down because of contamination concerns, a newborn staple remains in short supply.

In parts of the country, parents and their families are scrambling to find precious containers of formula for their babies, and many large retailers remain out of stock of popular brands. Some companies like Walmart and Target are limiting the number of containers that can be purchased at one time.

I find Fred Hochberg’s solution to our current inflation woes (“Imports Would Give America a Boost,” op-ed, July 8) to be off target. He cites the baby-formula shortage as an example of how imports would relieve the problem. But that is only part of the story of the government-controlled baby-formula industry.

Less than two weeks after resuming production amid a recall tied to a national baby formula shortage, manufacturer Abbott Nutrition announced Wednesday it is again pausing operation for some products at its Sturgis facility.

In a statement, Abbott said severe weather and rainfall that reached the state's southwest side this week overwhelmed the city's stormwater system and resulted in flooding in areas of the plant.

Abbott has stopped production of EleCare formula in its Sturgis, Michigan, plant after severe storms led to flooding inside the plant, the company said, probably delaying production of new formula for a few weeks.

Production at the plant had restarted less than two weeks ago following a months-long closure that helped drive a nationwide formula shortage.

Abbott is halting production of baby formula at a recently reopened Michigan facility due to damage from severe weather, the company said on Wednesday.

Severe thunderstorms and heavy rains have flooded parts of an Abbott baby formula plant in Sturgis, Michigan, according to the company. As a result, Abbott has stopped production of its EleCare baby formula. The company said cleanup efforts at the plant could delay the release of new baby formula from the Sturgis facility for weeks.

Amid a national shortage of baby formula, family care centers in at least two states discarded thousands of cans of unopened, unexpired baby formula—because state and federal officials said so.

Abbott Nutrition has restarted production at a Michigan baby formula factory that was previously shut down due to contamination, contributing to a nationwide shortage of formula. 

"We will ramp production as quickly as we can while meeting all requirements," Abbott said in a statement. "We're committed to safety and quality and will do everything we can to re-earn the trust parents, caregivers and health care providers have placed in us for 130 years."