Senators speak up about baby food shortages

WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) joined 21 Republican senators in sending a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D. to raise concerns over the Biden administration’s inadequate response to the nationwide baby formula shortage. The senators are seeking answers regarding when the Biden administration was made aware of the dire situation and the steps available to limit the harmful impact on families and their newborns.

The senators stressed the desperation felt by families with infant children and expressed frustration in the lack of urgent action to resolve this crisis.

“It’s concerning that FDA and key officials in the Administration did not anticipate this crisis or take action within days following Abbott Nutrition’s voluntary recall considering the company holds 48.1 percent of the U.S. market in infant formula. Families are getting to the brink of pursuing unsafe and potentially dangerous options to feed their infants including homemade infant formula. And physicians are, once again, running defense on misinformation due to a lack of federal action to get the word out on safe alternatives,” the senators wrote.

The letter was led by U.S. Senators Roger Marshall, M.D. (Kan.) and Shelley Moore Capito (W. Va.). In addition to Blunt, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (Maine), Mike Braun (Ind.), John Barrasso, M.D. (Wyo.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Jerry Moran (Kan.) Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), John Boozman (Ark.), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (La.), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.), John Thune (S.D.), James Lankford (Okla.), Steve Daines (Mont.), Ted Cruz (Texas), and John Kennedy (La.).