Baby Food

WASHINGTON—The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed consolidating the leadership of the food side of the agency Tuesday, in response to criticism of its slow response to the baby formula shortages and other food safety concerns.The plan unveiled by FDA Commissioner Robert Califf reorganizes the overlapping food divisions by putting a single deputy commissioner in charge of food policy and regulation within the agency.…

The Justice Department is investigating conduct at the Abbott Laboratories infant-formula plant in Sturgis, Mich., that led to its shutdown last year and worsened a nationwide formula shortage, people familiar with the matter said.Attorneys with the Justice Department’s consumer-protection branch are conducting the criminal investigation, the people said.  The branch, which has criminal as well as civil authority, was involved last year in a settlement with Abbott that allowed its Sturgis…

Strong demand for infant formula in the U.S. and higher sales of cold and cough medicines boosted Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC in the second quarter, propelling the Enfamil and Mucinex owner to sharply raise its sales guidance for the year. The London-listed company has been a beneficiary of formula product recalls and a production halt at rival Abbott Laboratories, which makes the Similac brand. Abbott’s problems exacerbated existing shortages related to…

U.S. stores are still struggling to stock baby formula despite monthslong efforts by manufacturers and the Biden administration to boost supplies.Availability of powdered formula products in U.S. stores earlier this month dropped to the lowest level so far this year, with about 30% of products out of stock for the week ended July 3, according to the market-research firm IRI. While availability improved slightly last week, out-of-stock levels remain higher than in recent months, and shortages remain acute in states…

Reckitt Benckiser RBGLY 0.75% Group PLC is to import infant-formula powder to the U.S. from a facility in Singapore, in what it said is the largest contribution so far from a manufacturer aimed at mitigating a nationwide formula shortage. The Enfamil owner said it would send the equivalent of 66 million 8-oz bottles of base infant formula powder between now and November—enough to feed more than 130,000 babies a month, on average. The…

Baby formula will remain hard to find until at least mid-July, industry executives said, despite efforts by manufacturers, the White House and regulators to ease a monthslong shortage. Abbott Laboratories, ABT -0.80% maker of Similac, the largest baby-formula brand by sales in the U.S., resumed production Saturday at its Sturgis, Mich., plant for the first time since February. That factory had produced roughly one-fifth of the infant formula in the country, and left many…

Danone SA DANOY 0.60% is to send the equivalent of about five million bottles of specialist infant formula to the U.S. as part of a broader push to alleviate shortages faced by babies with allergies.The French food giant said about half a million cans of specialized medical formula made by its Nutricia business will be flown into the U.S. in the coming weeks. Danone said the formula will come from its factory in Liverpool, England, which makes the Neocate line of amino…

Abbott Laboratories will release about 300,000 cans of a specialty infant formula for children in urgent medical need, while U.S. health regulators cleared the import of about 2 million cans of formula from the U.K. to try to mitigate a shortage. Abbott, of Abbott Park, Ill., said Tuesday it is releasing limited quantities of EleCare, an amino acid-based powder for infants with severe food allergies or gastrointestinal disorders. The company…

A nationwide baby-formula shortage has exposed the shortcomings of a multibillion-dollar government program aimed at providing formula at no cost to families, said lawmakers and recipients, prompting efforts to revamp it.Some low-income parents who rely on the federal Women, Infants and Children program said that shortages of approved baby formula have left them paying hundreds of dollars to purchase formula outside the program, while they navigate a patchwork of changes made to the WIC program in recent months in…

Nestlé SA NSRGY 0.41% said it would fly extra baby formula into the U.S. from Switzerland and the Netherlands as the Gerber owner looks to accelerate deliveries to alleviate a severe shortage across the U.S. The move comes after the Food and Drug Administration on Monday said it was encouraging overseas manufacturers to apply to ship their formula to the U.S., easing rules that had effectively prevented shipments from many such…