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Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH) addressed the ongoing baby formula crisis in an op-ed that appeared in today’s Findlay Courier. Latta laid out how the situation got to this point and the efforts he’s supporting to fix the problem. Latta is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has oversight over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Click here to read the piece in its entirety.

Formula crisis needs to end

By Rep. Bob Latta

A baby is a blessing. Anybody who has had the privilege of holding their newborn in their arms knows the feeling. You would do anything for them. They are your world. Tragically, for too many parents, the recent formula shortage has been devastating. Being unable to feed your infant child, searching all over town for formula, staring at empty shelves — it’s a horrific feeling. It all could have been prevented.

Since the closure of the Abbott plant in Sturgis, Michigan, countless families have suffered. The American people are angered and deserve answers to how this happened, and they deserve solutions to help them find formula immediately. Unfortunately, foot-dragging at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a large reason why we are in our current predicament, and it continues to be a significant impediment to fixing this mess.

How do we find ourselves in this position? The FDA was first aware of problems at the Sturgis facility in September 2021 during a routine inspection of the facility. Shortly after that inspection, in October, a whistleblower at the Abbott facility filed a report that highlighted a lack of safety adherence at the plant. However, the FDA did not meet with the whistleblower until the end of December despite consumer complaints that two infants had contracted a Cronobacter infection that may have been connected to the facility. Due to the slow response at the FDA, the problems continued to fester until the facility was shutdown following an inspection in January.

Despite this occurring over several months, the Biden Administration and FDA were caught flat-footed. There was plenty of time to get ahead of the crisis. The Wall Street Journal wrote about “hard-to-find” baby formula in January, and the White House was notified by the FDA of problems in February. However, just like other crises that have occurred since January 2021, there was no urgency at the White House or FDA headquarters to plan for the inevitable issues that would arise with a significant reduction of formula production in the United States.

Knowing how we got here is critical to helping us take steps to prevent this type of crisis in the future, but our first step needs to be enacting solutions to help families that are desperately searching for formula for their infants. As of last week, out-of-stock rates have surged to 70% and parents are desperate. I joined my colleagues in supporting bipartisan legislation that would provide more flexibility for parents enrolled in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program to access more brands of formula. That legislation has been signed into law.

In addition, I’ve cosponsored the Babies Need Formula Now Act, introduced by colleagues, Congresswomen Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), Elise Stefanik (NY), Ashley Hinson (IA), and Stephanie Bice (OK). This legislation attacks the problem from multiple angles to get formula in the hands of parents as quickly as possible and would prevent future shortages from occurring. The bill temporarily lifts import restrictions on formula from countries that have similar safety standards and prevents shortages in the future by removing FDA-imposed barriers. That will allow more formula manufacturers to enter the market and give consumers more choices. This act also strengthens transparency and requires the FDA to notify Congress of certain recalls and develop a plan to address any supply issues that could result.

I do want to be clear that I did vote against one piece of legislation related to this crisis that I don’t believe would have helped. That bill provides another $28 million to the FDA with most of the money going toward administrative expenses at the agency. Congress has already provided the Biden Administration with $1.1 billion, which is still at their disposal to specifically address supply chain crises like this one. The FDA alone received a $102 million budget increase two months ago through Congressional appropriations, including $11 million specifically for maternal and infant health and nutrition. We need real solutions — not political messaging bills that want to divert the public’s attention from the FDA’s poor performance.

The Sturgis plant should be opening any day now and an end to this crisis should be near. But for parents still struggling to find formula for their child, every single day counts. We have real solutions at our fingertips that can help families here in Ohio and across the country, but we need more leadership from the FDA and White House than we have seen to this point. There is no time to waste — this crisis needs to end.

Latta is the Republican congressman for Ohio's Fifth Congressional District.

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