The US is experiencing an intermittent but continued shortage of infant formula. But, that’s not stopping those in power from wreaking more havoc. We learned earlier that although European infant formula may be the safest option available, it has been attacked by the NYT and FDA. Shortly after NYT published an article against European infant formula:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized 588 cases of infant formula, valued at about $30,000, in Philadelphia recently for violating U.S. Food and Drug Administration import safety regulations.
— CBP Newsroom, April 5, 2021
In a horrific twist, the public has since learned many US infant formula makers have knowingly allowed dangerous levels of heavy metals in their products, such as arsenic and mercury (more on that below). Yet, the FDA did not take action against the US infant formula makers. To top it off, parents have since faced a shortage of formula and baby food.
Excuse me for being fired up about this, but it’s harming millions of children. Let’s start with a look at the highly misleading press releases from Uncle Sam.
Rampant Misinformation from the US Government
The phrasing “misbranded and adulterated consumer products” in the above CBP press release would have the reader believe that the contents are contaminated with unsafe ingredients. However the reality is nothing of the sort. Neither the CBP, nor the FDA, provided any evidence that the food was contaminated. Rather, the seizure appeared to be based on the labels not being written in English. This is hardly surprising, as one would expect the language of a product to match the location where it was produced. In fact, the CBP had previously acknowledged this by exempting infant formula for personal use:
Liquid milk and milk products intended for use by infants or very young children are admissible if in a reasonable or small quantity for several days use. […] not for sale or other distribution
— CBP Article-392, November 2, 2020 & CBP Article-3619
Similarly, the FDA states “Yes, you can import [FDA-regulated food products] for personal use”. To be clear, FDA labeling requirements make it illegal to distribute this infant formula by US businesses. Since the seized shipments were destined for a Nevada distribution center, the law directs the food to be seized and destroyed. That sort of soulless enforcement is not entirely surprising. What’s more surprising, is their very clear attempt to misrepresent the food as unsafe.
Consumers should be very careful when contemplating the purchase of items over the internet from an international source, because they may not get what they expect. […] People expect that […] they’ll be safe for them or their family. That’s not always the case.”
— Keith Fleming on behalf of CBP April 5, 2021
This is a fine piece of propaganda by the CBP. Of course, no food product is 100% safe. However, in this case, the statement is targeted at a very specific group of manufacturers without providing any evidence of unsafe ingredients in their food. Therefore it is most accurately described as speculative fear mongering by the CBP at the direction of the FDA.
Apparently, some at the FDA felt they hadn’t sufficiently smeared European infant formula makers, so they coordinated a recall:
Products Labeled as Infant Formula Formulas Have Insufficient Iron […] The products were imported from Europe and distributed to consumers in the U.S. via mail services
— FDA Recall Announcement by Able Group August 8, 2021
The unsuspecting reader sees this headline and thinks European infant formula must be missing vital ingredients. Although it may be partially accurate, a fully informed person would find the FDA’s statements highly misleading or mislabeled. Human breast milk has iron content of 0.4 mg/L. Low-iron infant formulas produced in the US contain a range of 1.5 mg/L to 4.5 mg/L of iron. The recalled European infant formulas had iron content ranging from 5mg/L to 10.2mg/L. FDA requires “iron-fortified” formula to contain iron above 6.7mg/L.
In other words, the FDA has decided that infant formula must contain a warning label unless it has more than 16x the iron that would be found naturally in mother’s breast milk. The AAP has lobbied in support of this regulation for decades. Sadly, this means they consider it justice to describe the food as “mislabeled” or “adulterated.”
From there, newspapers around the country parroted the frightening news. Some even included dubious “fact check” logos and told parents to throw out the formula (while failing to notify parents that iron-supplements are readily available for infants). https://www.eatthis.com/news-able-groupe-infant-formula-recall-august-2021/
I could find no report that bothered investigate or mention the 2019 randomized controlled trial which found that “Adolescents who received iron-fortified formula as infants from 6 to 12 months of age at levels recommended in the US had poorer cognitive outcomes compared with those who received a low-iron formula.” No update from the FDA on this either.
Meanwhile, the US market was deprived of the distribution of tens of thousands of units of formula every month…. during a shortage.
One of the twisted details about the recall notices is that although they appear to be written by the FDA and are published on the FDA website, they are actually written by the business. In this way, the FDA can puppeteer whatever language they like, and then disavow anything that doesn’t suit them down the road. It is something along the lines of a forced confession.
It would be difficult to conceive of methods more revolting to the sense of justice
— US Supreme Court (re: forced confessions), Brown v Mississippi, February 17, 1936
No Safe Haven
As bad as this is, we haven’t yet covered the real abomination. Exhausted parents may believe they can retreat to the safety of US infant formula. But a 2021 report by the US House Oversight Committee found that many infant food makers have been selling contaminated infant formulas and baby food.
The tainted baby foods include those from HappyBABY, Beech-Nut, Earth’s Best Organic, Gerber, Plum Organics, Parent’s Choice, and Sprout Organic Foods. Their baby foods contained heavy metals: arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury.
[US] Baby Foods Are Tainted with Dangerous Levels of Arsenic, Lead, Cadmium, and Mercury. […]
[these are] toxic heavy metals. The [FDA] and the World Health Organization have declared them dangerous to human health, particularly to babies and children, who are most vulnerable to their neurotoxic effects. Even low levels of exposure can cause serious and often irreversible damage to brain development.[…]
In the summer of 2019, FDA received a secret presentation from a baby food manufacturer that revealed [arsenic]. Yet, FDA took no apparent action.[…]
[US manufacturers] knowingly sell these products to unsuspecting parents, in spite of internal company standards and test results, and without any warning labeling whatsoever[…]
One might expect that when FDA learned this information, they had an ethical duty to report it to the public immediately. Instead, they kept it to themselves. It is hard to think of a worse violation of public trust.
And what about European infant formula? By now you might have guessed it: European infant formula has been tested and doesn’t have this contamination. Not only was the European formula within tolerable levels; the labs couldn’t even find detectible levels of contaminants.
Perhaps what is most baffling is that the report recommends more FDA regulation while simultaneously criticizing the FDA for failing to uphold safety protocols. Just to spell out their logic process:
- FDA takes no action when confronted with known contamination of baby food with toxic heavy metals. Not even a public service announcement.
- FDA takes action to mislabel safe infant formula as unsafe
- FDA capriciously enforces labeling requirements; depriving families from safe infant formula during a global supply shortage and subsequent baby food shortage
- FDA has not provided standards for heavy metals in baby food
- Therefore: let’s give the FDA more power? HELLO? IS ANYONE HOME?
It seems there are no bounds to government incompetence.
How to address the baby food shortage?
The character of most commonly repeated advice:
Parents are too stupid to decide how to feed their children. So don’t try and search for ways to make your own. And don’t buy European formula… it’s dangerously safe. Breastfeeding is the most healthy option, but our other agencies are doing a fantastic job of taxing and regulating to make everything more costly and stressful, so you’ll need to cut your maternity leave short and breastfeeding probably won’t work out for you. Although we haven’t bothered to provide testing and information so parents can make informed decisions, we will accept additional tax dollars so you can pretend like we are going to make your family safer.
— Imaginary honest bureaucrat
Sadly, the current state makes it very hard for parents to know what to do. Past generations may have fed their infants whole cow’s milk without realizing the associated problems for their child… no one knew. Today, the information is available, but it is buried under a mountain of coercion and dictates. Instead, parents could now be making the same bad decision, but only because their options have been regulated out of existence.
I can’t help but think about soap. Yes, soap. Go to any grocery store, farmer’s market, roadside stand, boutique. They all sell soap. Soap comes in every form and function you might imagine. You can buy it from huge manufacturers. You can buy it from a small family of artisans on their goat farm. Some are endorsed by medical associations. Some are not. One person may say their soap is “the good stuff”, while another may say it contains harmful chemicals. Some have a box with a detailed label. Some have no packaging whatsoever. Isn’t it wonderful that each person can decide for themselves what is safe for their body, genetics, budget, preferences, location, ailments, and environment?
Life without coercion.
