RFK Jr. announces plan to shore up baby formula supply
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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making infant formula the next target of his review of the food supply, launching an initiative on Tuesday that includes evaluating nutrients and increasing testing for heavy metals and other foreign substances.
Why it matters: The supply chain for infant formula, which is complicated to manufacture and highly regulated, is notoriously fragile.
State of play: Kennedy announced that the Food and Drug Administration will issue a request for information in the coming months on a comprehensive update and review of formula nutrients, as required by law.
- The FDA will increase testing for contaminants in formulas and other children's food. It will also extend a policy allowing individuals to import infant formula into the U.S. for their personal use.
- The agency will also collaborate with the National Institutes of Health to address research gaps about health outcomes associated with formula feeding.
- HHS is calling the plan "Operation Stork Speed." The agency did not respond to questions about details of the plan.
Zoom out: Kennedy met with executives of infant formula manufacturers on Tuesday, Bloomberg first reported.
- Last year, while Kennedy was still running for president, he posted on X that he'd direct the FDA to be "on top of" reports of toxins in infant formula.
- Consumer Reports on Tuesday published an analysis that found higher levels of lead and arsenic in some formulas. But CR noted that some products are safer than others — and the chemicals found are not exclusive to infant formula and are also common in the food supply and breast milk.
- Concern spread on social media late last year, before Kennedy took over at HHS, about corn syrup and seed oils in infant formulas.
- Formulas do not contain high-fructose corn syrup, but some have corn syrup solids — a separate ingredient used to provide energy in lactose-free products. Formulas do include seed oils, but manufacturers maintain they provide needed healthy fats for infant development.
What they're saying: "We look forward to working with the secretary, the FDA, and the scientific and medical communities to continue to make infant formulas even closer to breast milk and support the aims of Operation Stork Speed," Scott Stoffel, divisional vice president of external communications and public affairs at Abbott, told Axios.
- Abbott and three other companies manufacture almost 90% of the baby formula sold in the U.S.
- "Each ingredient in our formulas is purposefully chosen for the type of baby we're feeding and their unique dietary needs," Stoffel said.
Flashback: The U.S. experienced a nationwide baby formula shortage following a product recall and associated monthslong safety shutdown at an Abbott facility in 2022.
- The FDA did not have proper policies in place to undertake critical inspections or proper product recalls, per an HHS inspector general report released last year.
- The FDA in January, under the Biden administration, released a long-term national strategy for resiliency in the infant formula market.
