Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay $385 million to resolve claims that it manufactured baby formula in unsafe conditions at a Michigan factory, a settlement that California Attorney General Rob Bonta says his office helped secure alongside federal and state partners. The deal centers on Abbott's Sturgis plant, which was shut down in February 2022 amid a sweeping recall of Similac and other powdered formula brands that helped trigger a nationwide supply crunch.
Bonta announced the settlement in a statement posted to X, writing that mothers, babies, and Californians deserve products that meet their claimed quality standards. According to WOODTV, the U.S. government filed a complaint in November 2025 alleging that Abbott caused the federally funded WIC program to purchase formula from the Sturgis facility even though the products failed to meet statutory, regulatory, and contractual requirements.
What Investigators Alleged
The U.S. Attorney's Office alleged that Abbott knowingly manufactured infant formula purchased with taxpayer dollars in an environment that put the products at unacceptable risk of microorganism contamination, per the same WOODTV report. A related civil complaint described by Fox21 News stated that the manufacturing environment significantly impacted the products' reliability, quality, and safety.
Abbott closed the Sturgis facility in February 2022 after FDA investigators found conditions that the agency's then-chief, Dr. Robert Califf, called “shocking,” the WOODTV account notes. The plant reopened by June of that year, but not before the shutdown fed into a broader crisis: the closure contributed to nationwide formula shortages that left parents across the country scrambling for supply.
Abbott Disputes Fault, Cites Negative Test Results
Abbott maintains that the settlement does not represent any finding of fault or liability, the station's report states. The company also says there is no evidence that its formula caused the illnesses or deaths that prompted the 2022 recall, according to Fox21 News, and it has pointed to government testing of unopened product taken from the homes of infants under investigation at the time — tests that came back negative for Cronobacter sakazakii, per the same account.
The recall that followed the plant's closure covered several infant formula brands, including Similac, the station reports. Ahead of the closure, Abbott had voluntarily recalled major powdered-formula lines in February 2022 following reports of bacterial infections in infants who had consumed products made at Sturgis, according to Patch. Before reopening, Abbott entered a five-year FDA consent decree in May 2022 requiring an overhaul of its manufacturing controls and safety oversight, Patch notes.
Where the Money Is Going
California joined 39 other states and the federal government in the settlement, Patch reports, with the state's share including more than $15 million in restitution and other recoveries. Separately, Tennessee's Attorney General office says that state will recover just over $2.3 million, though the broader breakdown of individual state allocations has not been fully verified across accounts. Three whistleblowers who first filed complaints about the plant will receive $69 million from the deal, according to Fox21 News.
For Bonta, who posted the settlement announcement under his AGRobBonta account, the case reflects a broader consumer-protection push out of his Oakland-based office. In his statement, shared via Rob Bonta
's own account, he framed the resolution as holding a major healthcare and formula manufacturer accountable for misrepresenting its manufacturing environment in a way that affected product reliability, quality, and safety.
