House Oversight Committee launches probe into four largest baby formula manufacturers amid shortages

The House Oversight committee announced Friday it will investigate the baby formula shortage affecting families across the country, 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.

Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, sent letters to four of the largest infant formula manufacturers seeking information on what has caused the issue and how they will ramp up production to meet demand.

The letters were sent to Abbott Nutrition, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Nestle USA and Perrigo, which control nearly 90% of total market sales for formula manufacturing, according to the committee.

In the letter to Abbott, the committee requested documents and records regarding safety conditions at its Sturgis, Michigan, plant that led to recent nationwide recalls of several of its infant formula products.

The committee is also investigating reports of price gouging, which the White House directed the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to monitor and target on Thursday.

The committee requested to receive responses from the companies during a briefing scheduled on May 26. “We have asked for a briefing by the end of the month, and we’ve asked three basic questions: Do they have the supply to meet the demand? Is there a supply chain problem that can be corrected? And what can we do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?” Maloney told ABC News, which first reported the letters.

A group of more than 100 House Republicans sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Wednesday, calling for the White House and the FDA to address the shortage.

“This issue is a matter of life and death, and it is time this administration treats it with the appropriate urgency it deserves,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also blasted the administration’s response on Thursday, saying it is an “outrageous, unacceptable situation” that has been “unfolding in slow motion over several months.” The White House announced a series of actions on Thursday the Biden administration is taking to combat the shortage [Forbes].