Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its parent agency the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a series of actions on infant formula dubbed “Operation Stork Speed,” including a plan to increase testing for heavy metals such as lead and arsenic, which can cause cancer and neurological and behavior health impacts.
However, the announcement comes at a time when experts are questioning whether the agency will even have the resources to maintain its basic responsibilities related to food safety.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has long been concerned about heavy metals in food, and the announcement came just a day after Consumer Reports shared tests with the agency that identified metals in some infant formula products. While Consumer Reports’ scientists found almost no mercury or cadmium in common products, in some, they found levels of arsenic and lead that were high enough to be concerning to experts. (Formula companies challenged the testing methods and results.) Brian Ronholm, head of food policy at Consumer Reports, called the quick announcement “very encouraging.”
Current law does not require the FDA to test for toxins like heavy metals. The agency does regulate the nutrient content of formula and tests for microbial pathogens, like the bacteria that set off the infant formula shortage of 2022. In the announcement, the agency said it will also kick off a review of the nutrients in products and take steps to expand the country’s supply of formula.
However, earlier this month, the Trump administration shut down a joint FDA-USDA committee that had been studying the situation that led to the shortage in order to make recommendations on preventing another. The FDA has also fired critical staff working on food safety and put a freeze on credit cards researchers use to purchase products to test.
