Inside the White House's Spring scramble to contain the baby formula crisis

Around early May, officials with the US Food and Drug Administration remained largely focused on persistent problems at a shuttered baby formula plant in Michigan. But the White House was growing preoccupied with a problem of a much bigger scale: An infant formula shortage that could balloon to a full-blown crisis.

Around that time, officials with the FDA held a briefing with White House staff to discuss the situation as an Abbott plant in Sturgis, Michigan, was still shuttered and continued to be plagued with problems. In that meeting, the details of which are previously unreported, FDA officials focused on the ongoing problems at the closed facility -- including why it remained so difficult to bring it back online -- using highly technical language. Given that Abbott controlled around 40% of the formula market, the closure of the plant spelled serious trouble ahead.

Notably missing from the agency's presentation that day, according to sources familiar with the discussion, was an emphasis on just how deeply Abbott's troubles might wreak havoc on the national supply chain of baby formula.