A Better East Texas: Baby formula shortage

TYLER, Texas (KLTV/KTRE) - The care of babies in the U.S. has been at the forefront recently. One of the top headlines is the shortage of baby formula that has wreaked havoc on supplies across the U.S.

One estimate declared that as much as 40 percent of the normal formula supply of the most popular brands was out of stock. The shortage involves a factory owned by Abbott Nutrition in Sturgis, Michigan that has been shut down for 3 months while investigators from the FDA search for a bacterial contamination connection.

It is a serious situation that needs to be investigated but all of a sudden, the FDA and Abbott Nutrition have “reached a deal” that will allow the plant to restart production. “Reached a deal”? Is this some kind of negotiation or is it a search to discover a potential health hazard?

The FDA should not be on a quest to work out solutions short of requiring food producers to be safe. There should be no deal. And it should not have taken a crisis to get this in motion. How about just getting the plant clean and restarting?

Now we are re-directing some formula from a plant in Ireland to help. So, children somewhere in Europe will now be out of formula, or did they have the capacity and just not use it?

This is ultimately a crisis of leadership that lands with the federal government that must tighten the reins on matters like this. It is unacceptable that newborns in this country are without the nutrition they need to grow.

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