May 25, 2022

Duckworth Meets with FTC Chair to Discuss Inquiry into Causes of Infant Formula Shortages

FTC Announced Wide-Ranging Inquiry Yesterday Following Duckworth’s Request Earlier This Month

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today met with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan to discuss the FTC’s inquire into the infant formula shortage. This inquiry comes shortly after Duckworth urged the FTC launch a wide-ranging study of the infant formula industry. Specifically, Duckworth called in her request for an inquiry examining how that market’s composition, along with the behavior and business practices of market participants, affect competition, consumer prices, consumer choice, product safety, product quality, product transparency, supply chain efficiency, supply chain resilience and public health.

“As the nationwide infant formula shortage continues, there are more and more questions about how we got here and what must be done to prevent similar crises in the future,” Duckworth said. “I’m pleased Chair Khan is swiftly taking action, and I’m glad I was able to meet with her today to discuss this newly-announced inquiry following my request and what we must continue doing to develop effective legislative fixes that strengthen the resiliency of the infant formula supply chain, protect working families from outrageous prices and expand consumer choice.”

Since the nationwide infant formula shortage began, Duckworth has been working to address this issue and prevent it from happening again. Last week, she helped introduce the Access to Baby Formula Act, bipartisan, bicameral legislation to address the infant formula shortage for families who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), which President Biden signed it into law. This week, Duckworth urged CDC to protect infant lives by adding Cronobacter infections in infants to the list of national notifiable conditions. She joined her colleagues to help introduce the Protect Infants from Formula Shortages Act to safeguard the availability of these products by requiring manufacturers to notify the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of potential supply disruptions and give the FDA additional tools to proactively work with manufacturers to help prevent or mitigate potential shortages. Additionally, Duckworth joined her colleagues in urging the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to address extremely high levels of corporate concentration in the infant formula marketplace.

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