The former FDA commissioner told Fox Business that baby formulas and breast milk need to be regulated as robustly as medicines.
If Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Director of Health and Human Services, Stork Speed, is provided, strict inspections of all pipelines that feed the baby, including baby formula makers and breast milk banks, should be maintained.
This, according to former Food and Drug Management (FDA) associate committee member Peter Pitts, who said the 2022 dairy shortage highlights the need to prioritize more staffing and funding to maintain a risk-based management strategy.
Both formula and breast milk are important viable options. That means it should be supported by strong quality monitoring and sound scientific standards to ensure safety and availability, Pitts said.
“The lack of breast milk has pointed out that there are issues with the supply chain. There are issues with monitoring. There are issues with labeling. It hasn’t been reviewed for years,” Pitts told Fox Business. “We need to make sure foods like breast milk and baby formula are regulated as robustly as drugs.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Stoke Speed on Tuesday. (Get McNamee / Getty Images / Getty Images)
Infant prescriptions remind you that they do not comply with FDA regulations
Kennedy announced Tuesday that the FDA will implement a series of initiatives aimed at ensuring ongoing quality, safety, nutritional adequacy and resilience in the supply of infant formulas in the country. As part of these actions, the FDA will increase testing for heavy metals and other harmful chemicals.
The agency also allows for personal imports of food and encourages businesses to work with the FDA to improve label transparency. The FDA also maintains regular communication with consumers and industry stakeholders, ensures transparency and provides up-to-date information on nutrients, health outcomes and other critical developments. We also work with scientific organizations such as the National Institutes of Health to address key research gaps related to short- and long-term health outcomes of lifelong infancy and childhood feeding formulas.
The Reyes family are waiting to receive their baby formula at Walmart Supercenter on July 8, 2022 in Houston. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The FDA has good manufacturing practices that baby formula makers must follow, Pitts said. However, he added that more frequent and thorough inspections were needed to avoid the problems that occurred when Abbott’s Michigan plant was closed in 2022 due to pollution, leading to fear among parents and reduced faith in the regulatory process.
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“It’s one thing that books have regulations, right? That’s another thing that prioritizes them,” he said. “Prioritization doesn’t assume any kind of guilt. It’s simply resource allocation. If you don’t realize there’s a potential problem, you won’t allocate resources.”
Pitts also noted that maintaining stork speeds does not interfere with the safety of average breast milk banks or baby formula manufacturing.
The former FDA commissioner told Fox Business that the formula and breast milk should be supported by strong quality monitoring and sound scientific standards to ensure safety and availability. (Jennifer Polixenni Brankin / Getty Images / Getty Images)
Pitts argued that breast milk banks are “a real regulatory grey zone.” He said they are not consistently inspected by federal authorities, but they should be.
“If you want options, all of these options must be safe and effective,” he said.
Abbott told Fox Business that the company is looking forward to working with Kennedy, the FDA, the science and healthcare community to bring babies closer to breast milk.
“Each ingredient in our formula is intentionally chosen due to the type of baby we feed and unique dietary needs, and we are constantly working to bring the formula closer to breast milk.”
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Similarly, Reckitt and Danone, who own Mead Johnson, look forward to working with Kennedy to continue to provide safe, high quality, nutritious infant formula products backed by science, which are continuously improving the health and well-being of toddlers and toddlers.
Kennedy’s announcement comes a day after consumers reported “levels related to arsenic” and “levels” of lead in some babies. However, most formulas were not about contaminant levels, the study showed.
Baby formula makers, including Abbott, also questioned the methodology of this study, arguing that comparing powdered infant formula with drinking water standards was inappropriate as powdered mullas are diluted prior to consumption.
Empty store shelves in Columbus, Ohio. (Fox Business / Fox News)
Abbott also emphasized the natural occurrence of heavy metals in the environment, such as soil, water and air. They are present at low levels in many foods, such as baby formulas and breast milk.
Meanwhile, Reckitt said that all Mead Johnson Nutrition Products are FDA regulations compliant, and noted that their special formulas are tested in a different way than everyday ones due to their own construction.
Another brand tested in the consumer report, Bobby told Fox Business that the company has over 2,000 quality checks for every batch and all supplier veterinarians.
“Bobby will never cut corners on quality and safety,” the company said. “American babies deserve the highest quality formula, and American parents deserve peace of mind.”
