Abbott Pays $385 Million to Settle DOJ Claims Over 2022 Baby Formula Recall

Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay $385 million to resolve government allegations tied to the 2022 recall that emptied store shelves of baby formula and sent parents across the country scrambling.

The settlement, announced Monday, September 14, 2026, resolves a Justice Department investigation, a federal False Claims Act lawsuit, whistleblower claims, and lawsuits from several state attorneys general, according to a press release from Abbott and reporting from Dow Jones Newswires. Abbott will pay $348.7 million to the federal government and $36.3 million to states whose Medicaid and WIC programs bought the formula, per Dow Jones.

What The Government Alleged

The Justice Department's complaint covers conduct at Abbott's Sturgis, Michigan and Casa Grande, Arizona plants between January 2018 and December 2022, according to Dow Jones. The core accusation: Abbott caused state and federal nutrition programs to pay for powdered infant formula manufactured in conditions that put it at risk of contamination.

According to details reported by Daily Wire, citing the government's complaint, roof leaks at the Sturgis facility were common enough that water dripped directly over processing equipment. Instead of fixing the underlying problem, prosecutors allege Abbott relied on temporary fixes called "roof leak umbrellas" to route water away from the product line, despite company leadership allegedly knowing that moisture raised contamination risk.

The complaint also alleges Abbott kept running spray dryers, the equipment that turns liquid formula into powder, even after documenting cracks and pits inside them. Prosecutors say Abbott increased the number of batches run through those dryers between cleaning cycles, according to Daily Wire's reporting.

The most serious allegation involves testing. The government alleges Abbott avoided testing for bacterial growth specifically because it didn't want positive results on record, and that in some cases where testing did turn up microorganism contamination, the company failed to disclose those results to the FDA during inspections in 2019 and 2022.

These are allegations laid out in a civil complaint. They have not been proven in court, and Abbott has not admitted to any of them.

Abbott's Response

Abbott's own statement, distributed via PR Newswire, is direct: "The settlement does not represent any finding of fault or liability." The company also confirms the Justice Department has closed its criminal investigation into the matter, meaning no individual or corporate criminal charges resulted from the years-long probe.

Abbott's central defense is narrower and more specific than the contamination allegations themselves. The company says no unopened, distributed Abbott infant formula has ever tested positive for Cronobacter sakazakii, the bacterium linked to the 2022 recall, or for Salmonella Newport. Abbott points to FDA testing from early March 2022, which it says confirmed unopened product from the homes of infants under investigation at the time tested negative for Cronobacter. Abbott also cites a CDC conclusion that there was no definitive link between the Sturgis facility and the clinical illness cases being investigated in 2022.

Abbott further notes, through its FAQ release, that other infant formula manufacturers have since reported their own Cronobacter-related findings in manufacturing facilities, and in one case in finished, distributed product, suggesting the industry-wide risk didn't start or end with Abbott.

The DOJ's allegations center on manufacturing conditions and testing practices that increased contamination risk. Abbott's defense centers on the narrower claim that the specific product tied to the 2022 illness cases never tested positive. The settlement doesn't resolve which framing is more accurate, because it isn't a legal finding either way.

The Shortage This Caused

The Sturgis plant recall in 2022 pulled major powdered formula brands off shelves and triggered a shortage that left parents nationwide driving hours between stores and flying formula in from other states, a scramble widely documented across local and national news at the time.

Daily Wire's Mary Margaret Olohan reported that the Justice Department wants the settlement to send a message that America's food supply is "nonnegotiable." That characterization reflects Olohan's framing of the department's intent rather than a direct quote from a named official.

What's Unresolved

The $385 million settlement closes the legal chapter, but it leaves open whether the manufacturing practices described in the complaint, if accurate, still exist anywhere in the infant formula supply chain today. Abbott's own release notes other manufacturers have had Cronobacter findings since 2022. Neither the FDA nor Abbott has indicated in these releases what additional plant inspections or testing requirements, if any, have followed since the Sturgis recall.