Earlier this week, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) signed on as a cosponsor of H.R. 7718, the Formula Act. This legislation, introduced by Reps. Randy Feenstra (IA-04) and Stephanie Bice (OK-05), would direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to establish and communicate to Congress clear standards by which it domestically regulates infant formula.

“Iowa’s families have been severely impacted by the domestic formula shortage. The ongoing shortage has highlighted severe issues with our supply chain and oversight of the FDA,” said Miller-Meeks. “Writing a blank check to the FDA, the same agency that created this crisis, will not solve the underlying issues at hand. During the current formula shortage, we need to be working to increase access to formula to support families across the country. Improving standards to regulate imported formula will ensure that we can import necessary goods to shore up domestic supply to prevent future crisis and keep American families healthy and safe.”

Background:

In May, Miller-Meeks cosponsored the Babies Need More Formula Now Act, which would work to quickly increase the baby formula supply, increase oversight and accountability at the FDA, increase innovation to provide more choices for parents, and work to prevent future crises.

A few months ago, Abbott Laboratories – which manufactures 15% of the national infant formula supply – was required to halt its daily operations over concerns that its infant formula was infected with bacteria that caused organ damage and bacterial infections in infants. As a result of this temporary closure, infant formula quickly became scarce at supermarkets nationwide with Iowa reporting roughly half of its formula stockpiles exhausted.

Currently, the United States does not import foreign infant formula because the FDA does not have interchangeable standards in place to regulate foreign formula to ensure it complies with U.S. health code and regulations.

By codifying standard regulations for infant formula, this legislation would allow America to safely import foreign infant formula to complement domestic production, particularly during times of severe shortage like American families are now facing.

These standards would in turn be applied to foreign infant formula to allow formula imports and support domestic manufacturers.

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