Robert Ford, the CEO of Abbott Laboratories, issued an apology for the nationwide baby formula shortage, calling it “tragic and heartbreaking.”
Over the weekend, The Washington Post published an op-ed by Ford titled, “We’re sorry about the formula shortage. Here’s what we’re doing to fix it.”
Opening the op-ed, Ford wrote, “The past few months have distressed us as they have you, and so I want to say: We’re sorry to every family we’ve let down since our voluntary recall exacerbated our nation’s baby formula shortage.”
Commenting on the recall of the company’s products earlier this year, Ford added, “We believe our voluntary recall was the right thing to do. We will not take risks when it comes to the health of children.”
Ford noted “some children have been hospitalized because of the lack of EleCare, a specialized formula for children who cannot digest other formulas and milks.”
He continued, “Given their unique needs, children who lose access to it can require medical supervision until the formula is returned to the shelves. I will not mince words — this is tragic and heartbreaking, and it is consuming my thoughts and those of my colleagues.”
Ford went on to list a series of actions the company is taking to address the issue.
“First, for the families of those children hospitalized, we wish we could provide them the formula they need today and are working to identify ways to do so,” Ford said.
The company’s CEO proceeded to tell Americans they “can feel safe buying any Abbott product you find on the store shelves. What is available has passed rigorous inspections and is ready for your babies.”
According to Ford, the company has “converted lines of our adult nutrition products at our Columbus, Ohio, plant to prioritize production of ready-to-feed liquid infant formula.”
Additionally, it has “been air-shipping millions of cans of our most widely used powdered infant formula from an FDA-approved facility in Ireland to the United States since the recall.”
Read the op-ed below:
Opinion by Abbott CEO Robert Ford: “We’re sorry to every family we’ve let down since our voluntary recall exacerbated our nation’s baby formula shortage. Here’s what we’re doing to fix it.” https://t.co/Km10W6Uxix
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 22, 2022
Concluding the op-ed, Ford explained the company is “making significant investments to ensure this never happens again. We plan to expand both capacity and redundancy.”
He added, “This will increase the nation’s formula supply and create the redundancy we need to never have to stop production of critical products such as EleCare again. And we will similarly invest in upgrading our safety and quality processes and equipment.”
On Sunday, a shipment of infant formula arrived from Europe, as The New York Times reported. The shipment amounted to roughly 500,000 eight-ounce bottles.
