Heinrich, Brown, and Casey Call on the FDA to Take Action to Prevent Another Infant Formula Shortage

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action to prevent another infant formula shortage. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf, Heinrich and colleagues urged the agency to ensure that production levels for domestic infant formula remains constant, and that store shelves continue to be stocked. 

 

As the FDA continues to respond to the formula shortage of 2022, many questions remain on how the FDA is continuing to address this issue. 

 

“It is imperative that we continue to address the nation’s infant formula crisis by meaningfully improving the quality and safety of the U.S. infant formula factory network in order to ensure the health and safety of American infants,” the senators wrote.

 

In May 2022, following multiple reports of illness and two tragic deaths linked to recalled infant formula manufactured by Abbott Nutrition, Heinrich joined 30 of his colleagues in sending a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to immediately assign a coordinator within the White House to address the infant formula shortage. The senators additionally called for the President to implement a national strategy to increase the resiliency of the infant formula supply chain and protect against future contamination and shortages. 

 

Heinrich also helped to pass into law the Access to Baby Formula Act to ensure that families who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) were provided the baby formula they needed. 

 

A copy of the letter is available HERE and below: 

 

Dear Commissioner Califf: 

 

As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) works with U.S. infant formula manufacturers to make much-needed improvements to aging factories, we write to you today to call on the FDA to ensure that production levels for domestic infant formula remains constant, and that store shelves continue to be stocked. 

 

It is imperative that we continue to address the nation’s infant formula crisis by meaningfully improving the quality and safety of the U.S. infant formula factory network in order to ensure the health and safety of American infants. As a response to the shortage in 2022, Congress passed several laws directing the FDA to enhance its oversight of the domestic infant formula market. We applaud the agency’s work to implement these laws, including increasing inspections and directing companies to make much-needed improvements to factory conditions that resulted in the shortage.

 

Infant formula is the sole source of nutrition for many infants, and it is critical that the FDA incorporate lessons learned from the 2022 shortage to implement further improvements and ensure stable domestic production levels of infant formula.

 

 As we head toward the end of Fiscal Year 2023, we write to request the following information:  

We request a briefing for our staffs to discuss these important questions no later than October 6, 2023. Please contact Kimberly Lattimore and Sara Maskornick to arrange the briefing.