By Kevin Freking
Associated Press
The Senate approved this Thursday a bill that seeks to combat the shortage of milk formula in families that participate in a government food assistance program, which represents approximately half of all the formula that is purchased in the country.
The House of Representatives passed the bill a day early, so it is now up to President Joe Biden to sign it into law.
Those who benefit from the WIC program obtain coupons that are redeemed for certain foods to supplement their diets.
Coupons can usually
only be used to purchase one brand of infant formula
, incentivizing the manufacturer to offer deep discounts.
They warn of fraud in the purchase of baby formula through the internet.
so you can avoid it
May 19, 202201:31
The bill eliminates certain requirements so that the beneficiaries of the program can buy any brand available with the Government vouchers.
“Now millions of parents will have an easier time finding the baby formula they need,”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said after the bill passed.
[White House and Congress Move to Combat Baby Formula Shortage]
The Biden Administration also announced Thursday that the Department of Defense will contract commercial aircraft to transport 246 shipments of formula made by Nestlé from Zurich, Switzerland, to Plainfield, Indiana.
President Joe Biden invokes anti-shortage law over lack of baby formula
May 19, 202201:59
The equivalent of 1.5 million 8-ounce bottles of three brands will be shipped in this way: Alfamino Infant, Alfamino Junio and Gerber Good Start Extensive HA,
all of them hypoallergenic formulas for children who are allergic to cow's milk protein
.
The White House said it is a priority because it has a medical purpose and they are in short supply.
In addition, lawmakers are considering spending $28 million to hire more staff at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Although that proposal already passed the House of Representatives this week, it faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
Baby formula has been in short supply due to the pandemic, but it was recently made worse by the closure of the nation's largest powdered milk factory, after four cases of infection were linked to the Abbott plant in Michigan.
The FDA has said the factory in Sturgis could resume production as soon as next week.
