Formula for crisis

The baby formula crisis is ongoing, and the latest data is alarming: The in-stock rate for powdered baby formula was 76.5% for the week ending June 12 (according to IRI). And Abbott Nutrition once again had to halt production at its Michigan plant after severe thunderstorms caused flooding in the plant.

The key problem at the heart of this mess remains: The United States does not have enough baby formula supply to meet demand. We need to open up this market to more competition now — and for years to come.

For decades, the United States has put up barriers that have made it pretty much impossible for foreign or domestic manufacturers to break that stronghold. The Food and Drug Administration has stringent import rules. On top of that, since 1989, Congress has required every state to strike a deal with one company to be the supplier for the state’s “WIC” (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) that serves low-income families. Since WIC purchases account for about half of all baby formula sales, the company that wins any state’s contract is almost guaranteed to have its products commanding sales.

A heavy reliance on three companies and seven production facilities for most U.S. formula is how we ended up in a situation where one prominent Abbott formula factory shutdown led to mass shortages and babies being hospitalized.

We need to keep the imports coming. The FDA claims its heavy-handed import controls are about safety, but formula could come from countries that have equally good — if not better — health outcomes for kids.

Congress should seriously consider whether it’s time to ditch WIC state monopolies, which would also require additional funding to WIC. At a minimum, Congress could make it easier for companies to compete for WIC contracts by passing the bipartisan WIC Healthy Beginnings Act.

There’s blame to go around in this crisis. Abbott’s Michigan factory was not up to standards. The FDA failed to respond to red flags in a timely manner, and it and White House should have intervened sooner. But long-standing problems exacerbated this shortage and must be fixed.