WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday debated if enough has changed to prevent a repeat of the infant formula shortage, more than a year after a nationwide crisis began.
The U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services heard from two experts that while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has made some structural changes, infant formula manufacturers are still not required to notify the FDA if they detect certain types of bacteria at their facilities.
“The state of the infant formula industry today is not much different than it was then — the public health surveillance system for this pathogen remains insufficient, the necessary safeguards have not been advanced at an adequate pace to prevent future illnesses and the infant formula supply chain continues to lack serious resilience,” said Frank Yiannas, former deputy commissioner of the FDA Office of Food Policy & Response from 2018 to 2023.
“In other words, the nation remains one outbreak, one tornado, one flood, or cyberattack away from finding itself in a similar place to that of February 17, 2022,” Yiannas added.
Subcommittee Chairwoman Lisa McClain, a Michigan Republican, criticized the FDA for its response to the 2022 infant formula crisis, saying it “underscores a major problem with the FDA.”
“The FDA is responsible for 78% of the U.S. food supply, but the FDA is not prioritizing food safety,” McClain said.
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