Congressman Tim Ryan today helped pass two bills to address the infant formula shortage affecting families across Ohio. This legislation takes important steps to ensure that every Ohioan has the nutrition they need and prevent this crisis from happening again.
The supplemental funding bill (H.R. 7790) provides the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urgently needed resources to help address the infant formula shortage, increase the number of FDA inspection staff, provide resources for personnel working on formula issues, help the agency stop fraudulent baby formula from entering the marketplace, and improve data collection on the formula market.
“It is unacceptable that millions of Americans, including those who suffer from rare metabolic conditions, are struggling to find formula they need to keep their kids fed and alive,” said Congressman Ryan. “By passing this bill today, Congress is ensuring the FDA has every tool it needs to get our shelves restocked and parents the baby formula needed to feed their kids. We must never let this happen again.”
The formula shortage has taken an especially dangerous toll on vulnerable women and children who use Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits to purchase formula. In response, the Access to Baby Formula Act (H.R. 7791) provides flexibility so that low-income families can continue purchasing safe infant formula with their WIC benefits during a crisis, such as a supply chain disruption.
The Access to Baby Formula Act is particularly important as nearly half of all infant formula is purchased using WIC benefits and 89 percent of WIC participants purchased formula from Abbott Nutrition—the manufacturing plant that closed and spurred the shortage crisis.
In February 2022, an Abbott Nutrition facility, in Sturgis, MI, recalled several infant formula products (including Similac, Alimentum, and EleCare) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to consumers not to use these recalled products.
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