Biden meets with baby formula makers in bid to ease parent-stressing shortage

President Biden was set to meet Wednesday with makers of baby formula as he seeks to ease the crippling shortage of the must-have product for parents of infants.

Biden will host a roundtable at the White House with major formula manufacturers ByHeart, Bubs Australia, Reckitt, Perrigo Co. and Gerber. The biggest formula maker, Abbott Nutrition, won’t be part of the meeting for reasons that remain unclear.

The closing of Abbott’s plant in Michigan over fears of bacterial contamination earlier this year triggered a nationwide shortage of formula. Industry executives say the constraints began last year as the COVID-19 pandemic led to disruptions in ingredients, labor and transportation. Supplies were further squeezed by parents stockpiling during lockdowns.

The White House has already sought to ease the shortage by importing foreign supplies and using the Defense Production Act to ramp up domestic production.

Food safety regulators and Abbott agreed last month to reopen its shuttered plant, though production has not restarted.

Biden will be joined at the roundtable by Heath and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.

The meeting is expected to give industry and the public an update on Operation Fly Formula to import formula from overseas into the U.S. and the White House’s efforts to require suppliers of the formula manufacturers to prioritize their orders in a bid to ease any production bottlenecks.

All of the measures may help but none will solve the formula supply shortages that have left people who depend on formula facing empty shelves or limits on purchases.

Republicans and critics of Biden say his economic policies are responsible for the shortages, which they blame for a variety of supply chain shortages and soaring inflation. The White House and Democrats scoff at that notion, saying the formula issue has little to do with broader economic issues.

The Food and Drug Administration focused on Abbott’s Michigan plant last fall while tracking several bacterial infections in infants who had consumed formula from the facility. The four cases occurred between September and January, causing hospitalizations and two deaths.

After detecting positive samples of rare but dangerous bacteria in multiple parts of the plant, the FDA closed the facility and Abbott announced a massive recall of its formula on Feb. 17, sparking the shortage.

©2022 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.