Abbott Nutrition received a complaint over conditions at its Michigan plant months before the factory was closed, report says

• Abbott was informed of complaints about its Michigan plant earlier than thought, the WSJ reported.
• A former employee submitted a complaint to the labor department in February 2021, per the WSJ.

Abbott Nutrition received a complaint claiming there were unsanitary conditions at its Michigan factory earlier than thought, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The publication cited a source familiar with the issue and a government official.

According to the Journal, a former Abbott Nutrition employee filed a complaint detailing unsanitary conditions, such as faulty equipment, to the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in February 2021.

The department then escalated the complaint to Abbott and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the report added, citing the government official, per the Journal.

In a statement sent to Insider, spokesperson for Abbott Nutrition said: "We investigated the federal OSHA complaint and have not been able to confirm the allegations."

The FDA did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment made outside of normal working hours.

Abbott Nutrition closed its Michigan plant in February 2022 in the wake of complaints of illnesses in four babies who consumed the products manufactured there. The illnesses were linked to the environmental bacteria, cronobacter sakazakii.

In the wake of a recent investigation, the FDA said it could not link the infections in the infants directly to the plant but admitted that it could not be ruled out, adding that conditions at the plant were "egregiously unsanitary."

Appearing before a house subcommittee in May, FDA commissioner Robert Califf also admitted that internal issues within the FDA delayed an investigation into a whistleblower complaint over conditions at the plant, which was sent to officials in October 2021.

According to the Journal, the same person submitted the complaint to the FDA in October and the earlier February complaint.

In its statement sent to Insider, Abbott said it "did not know of or see" the complaint sent to the FDA in October until it was publicized in April.

"We believe this to be a former employee who was dismissed due to serious violations of Abbott's food safety policies. While at the company, the former employee did not bring forward product safety complaints to our Office of Ethics and Compliance," the statement added.

The FDA and Abbott Nutrition did not broach the February complaint in the hearing in May.

In a statement sent to the Journal, the FDA said: "We know there have been various questions about the timeline of events leading up to the FDA's warning and Abbott's recall of products manufactured at their Sturgis facility."

"Our top priority right now is addressing the dire need for infant formula in the US market and our teams are working day and night to make that happen," the statement added.

Abbott restarted production at the shuttered Michigan plant on Saturday after reaching a deal with the FDA in mid-May. The company agreed to an FDA inspection at the Sturgis plant and Abbott bringing in outside help to carry out the necessary steps to reopen it.

The factory closure and product recalls sparked sweeping shortages of baby formula across the US. Abbott said it would take approximately three weeks for products to hit store shelves.