Baby Formula Shortage: House Oversight Committee Launches Probe Into Four Largest Manufacturers

The baby formula shortage affecting families across the country will be investigated by the House Oversight committee, asking for information on how the largest manufacturers are addressing the shortage, and how the government can ease supply problems from occurring in the future.

The chair of the Committee and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy sent letters to the manufacturers of infant formula to find out what caused the issue.

According to the committee, the letters were sent to Abbott Nutrition, Mead Johnson Nutrition, and Perrigo, which control nearly 90 percent of total market sales for formula manufacturing.

The committee requested documents and records regarding safety conditions at Abbott's plant in Michigan, which led to the recent nationwide recalls of several of its infant formula products.

The White House directed the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to look into reports of price gouging on Thursday.

The companies were requested to give responses to the committee during the May 26 meeting.

PLAY Forbes Business Full Screen About Connatix Read More Read More Read More Read More Read More Read More 1/1 Skip Ad Continue watching after the ad Visit Advertiser websiteGO TO PAGE

We have asked for a briefing by the end of the month, and we have asked three basic questions: do they have the supply to meet the demand? Is there a problem in the supply chain? What can we do to make sure this doesn't happen again?

42%. Datasembly, which tracks product data for retailers, reported that the nationwide out-of-stock percentage for baby formula was over 50% during the first week of May. The percentage went up from the beginning of April.

Key Background

The shortage of infant formula is caused by supply chain issues from the Covid-19 Pandemic and rising inflation, but the shuttering of an Abbott Laboratories facility in Michigan in February worsened the limited supplies. According to a report from the USDA, Abbott accounted for 42% of the total market sales of formula. The FDA warned consumers not to purchase some formula produced in the facility on February 17 as it investigated reports that several children who contracted serious bacterial infections from Cronobacter sakazakii andSalmonella had links to the formula. cronobacter may have been a factor in the deaths of two children, according to the FDA. The FDA said in a separate statement that there were a limited number of samples that tested positive for eitherbacteria.

Chief Critic

A group of more than 100 House Republicans sent a letter to the White House and the FDA on Wednesday, calling for them to address the shortage. McConnell blasted the administration's response on Thursday, saying it was an "outrageous, unacceptable situation" that had been unfolding in slow motion.

Baby Formula Shortage: How Safety Concerns At An Abbott Facility Fueled A Crisis.

The baby formula shortage will be tackled by the Biden administration.