It's funny how news stories are framing it as a "formula shortage" when the core of the news story is more like "Formula Contamination! Abbott factory with numerous safety violations linked to death of infants."
The Similac formula factory in Sturgis produced vast amounts of formula in unsanitary conditions for years, and the FDA shut them down in February after an outbreak of deadly bacteria was detected.
https://www.fda.gov/media/156747/download
More info:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/02/18/fda-baby-formula-abbott
(from February)
Apparently the factory has been closed for three months -- this implies the problems with the factory were extensive.
There is a general question about whether the recall caused more problems than it solved. I don't have good data on that.
Anyway, Abbott must have a good lobbying / PR team.
Meanwhile, this is how China handles tainted formula problems:
![Classified information in the United States [Part 1/3]](/assets/noimage.svg)