Biden admin to issue approval for imported baby formula in lackluster response to shortage
Countless Americans parents with hesitations about US formula ingredients have been buying European formulas online for years.
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Countless Americans parents with hesitations about US formula ingredients have been buying European formulas online for years.
After months of struggle for parents across the United States to find baby formula for their children, the Biden administration finally gave an actionary response to the issue.
This comes after the Biden administration prioritized the dispersal of palettes of formula to migrants at the US-Mexico border, and claimed it was "morally right" to do so, while American families were met with empty formula shelves and panic.
Tuesday morning, President Biden posted a video on Twitter, notifying the public about new efforts between the Biden administration and the Federal Drug Administration to combat the nationwide shortage.
We are doing everything we can to make more infant formula available while the closed factory comes back online.
Last night, there was another breakthrough.
The FDA will allow formula from outside the US to be safely imported, which will quickly increase supply. pic.twitter.com/UCtkPYfxd5
— President Biden (@POTUS)
"I understand how stressful it is for parents trying to find formula to feed their children, which is why my administration is doing everything in our power to make more infant formula available quickly and safely," Biden said.
Biden announced that Abbott, the major US baby formula manufacturer whose plant closure heightened the severity of the formula shortage, has come to an agreement with the FDA to reopen their plant and resume formula production with close oversight.
Despite Twitter "fact-checking" warnings about US baby formula in 2021, Biden now claims the shortage is a "top priority."
The Biden Administration has also begun working with the FDA to announce guidelines which would allow imports and sales from major baby formula manufacturers from outside of the US.
It is unclear why the Biden administration is imposing strict FDA oversight on foreign formulas being brought into the US, as countless Americans parents with hesitations about US formula ingredients have been buying European formulas online for years.
Despite FDA approved formulas in the US containing harmful ingredients like seed oils and corn syrup, major European organic formulas like Holle and HiPP are currently illegal to sell in the US, as the FDA claims there are not enough nutrients like iron in these formulas. This has been a longstanding issue, with American families buying European formulas online with costs soaring as high as 90 percent of US based organic formulas.
While offering nothing but a lackluster response amidst the formula crisis, this latest guidance from the Biden administration is the first actionable response we've seen. Just last week, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki blamed the formula shortage in part on scared parents "hoarding" formula.
Psaki on baby formula shortage: "What we are seeing which is an enormous problem is hoarding ... & people hoarding because they are trying to profit off of fearful parents." pic.twitter.com/qtxQtnk4ng
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial)
We will wait to see how quickly these actions by the Biden administration fill our empty formula shelves.
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