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WASHINGTON, DC—Congressman Paul D. Tonko voted last night to pass two bills that will improve families’ access to infant formula, ensure every baby has the nutrition they need, and take steps to help avoid any future formula crisis.

H.R. 7790, the supplemental funding bill provides the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urgently needed resources to help address the infant formula shortage, increase the number of FDA inspection staff, provide resources for personnel working on formula issues, help the agency stop fraudulent baby formula from entering the marketplace, and improve data collection on the formula market. H.R. 7791, the Access to Baby Formula Act provides flexibility so that low-income families who use the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) can continue purchasing safe infant formula with their benefits during a crisis, such as a supply chain disruption. 

Building upon these critical efforts in Congress, President Biden also invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) last night to ensure that manufacturers have the necessary ingredients to make safe, healthy infant formula.

“No parent should ever have to wonder how they will feed their child, but the nation-wide formula shortage has made that a reality for countless families,” Congressman Tonko said. “We must take immediate action to quickly get safe formula to parents and babies. The House took that action with legislation empowering the FDA to end the current shortage while ensuring formula meets nutritional needs and is manufactured in the safest way possible. Critically, we also passed the Access to Baby Formula Act to support Americans who rely on WIC benefits to purchase formula and who are disproportionately affected by this shortage. I applaud the Biden Administration’s strong action to address this issue, and I urge the Senate to move quickly to pass these critical bills that will make sure parents no longer have to scour the shelves of grocery stores or websites to provide their children with food.”

Tonko will also be joining an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing next week that will include testimony from top FDA officials as well as execs from three major formula companies, Abbott Nutrition, Gerber Products Company, and Reckitt.

In February 2022, an Abbott Nutrition facility recalled several infant formula products (including Similac, Alimentum, and EleCare) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to consumers not to use these recalled products. 

To read the bill text for supplemental funding legislation to address infant formula shortage, click HERE.

To read the bill text for the Access to Baby Formula Act, click HERE. 

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