The US formula milk industry is not yet out of trouble

Source: vneconomy.vn

Photo: CNN

According to Reuters, the jury concluded that Mead Johnson was negligent and failed to warn about the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). This is a common disease in premature infants and has a mortality rate of about 15 – 40%. This is the first of hundreds of lawsuits claiming that Mead Johnson’s Enfamil or Abbott Laboratories’ Similac formulas cause NEC.

According to the US National Institutes of Health, there is evidence that formula milk increases the risk of NEC compared to breast milk. Mead Johnson said they disagree with the ruling and will appeal. “We believe that the allegations from the plaintiff’s attorney in this case are not supported by science or medical experts,” Reuters quoted Mead Johnson’s statement.

In federal court in Chicago, more than 400 NEC-related lawsuits against Mead Johnson and Abbott are pending. According to the plaintiffs, the milk company concealed the fact that its formula, including products specifically for premature babies, was more risky than breast milk. Dairy companies have denied these allegations.

Previously, on December 31, 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN) voluntarily recalled a batch of Nutramigen milk powder in the US market due to the risk of bacterial contamination. Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria in products sampled abroad. According to the FDA, Nutramigen milk cans were produced from June 2023 and distributed mainly in the months of June, July, and August of the same year.

A representative of the UK-based Reckitt Group said all recalled products have an expiration date before January 1, 2025, and asked customers to throw away the recalled products. Reckitt also confirmed that other batches of Nutramigen milk or other Reckitt products distributed in the US are not affected.

In March 2023, the US also recalled some Gerber formula milk for infants. The recalled milk products include Gerber Good Start SoothePro 12.4 oz, Gerber Good Start SoothePro 19.4 oz and Gerber Good Start SoothePro 30.6 oz due to concerns about possible bacterial contamination. A voluntary recall notice was recently issued by Perrigo company for a number of infant formula products produced at a factory in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Bloomberg commented that the formula milk crisis has shown an inflexible industry with just a few businesses owning the majority of formula milk production in the US. After an Abbott Nutrition factory in Sturgis, Michigan, suddenly stopped operating in February 2022 due to bacterial contamination, as of May of the same year, stores reported up to 40% of public milk products formula is out of stock due to supply chain bottlenecks and formula product recalls.

The US Congress and the White House have devised a series of solutions to bring formula milk back to store shelves. But none of those efforts — including invoking the Defense Production Act and exempting formula imports from high tariffs — has helped avert a year-long milk shortage. via. Abbott’s dairy plant in Sturgis, Michigan, alone accounts for about 20% of the infant formula market in the US. Abbott’s competitors such as Mead Johnson, Nestlé SA and Perrigo Co. could not make up the shortfall when this factory closed.

According to market research firm Euromonitor International, Abbott, Reckett Benkiser and Nestle produce the top five US formula brands: Enfamil, Similac, Gerber, PediaSure and Isomil. Record inflation and supply chain problems caused by the pandemic have exacerbated the problems facing the U.S. dairy industry. Officials and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have yet to agree on a solution, but most agree the problem is largely due to U.S. policies that make it difficult for new entrants to enter the market. manufacture.

Ron Belldegrun and Mia Funt, co-founders of ByHeart, a formula brand that uses organic cow’s milk, say they spent more than five years trying to make headway in the formula market. According to statistics, ByHeart is the first new formula milk manufacturer in more than 15 years to be registered with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Mr. Belldegrun said infant formula is the most tightly controlled food in the world.

Shazi Visram, who founded children’s food company Happy Family Organics in 2003, noted that the process of bringing a product to shelves is extremely rigorous, consuming a lot of time and investment. It takes at least 3 – 5 years to bring a product to market from formula development, to supply chain development, then clinical trials, licensing from the FDA and finally production.

Entrepreneur and scientist Laura Katz, who founded formula milk startup Helaina in 2019, emphasized that baby formula is a very sensitive and important product and that is why establishing Establishing the safety of this product through clinical testing requires such a long journey.

While the US wants to increase imports of formula milk from Europe, the UK’s Competition and Market Monitoring Authority (CMA) said it will open a new investigation into the supply of baby formula milk in the UK. this country. Accordingly, the price of formula milk has increased by 25% in the past 2 years in the UK amid the cost of living crisis due to rising inflation, forcing some families in difficulty to reduce the amount of formula milk for their children.

The investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will force suppliers such as Nestle and Danone – the two leading formula milk suppliers in the UK – to provide information about product prices. Products. In addition, CMA also conducts surveys on consumer behavior, the role of regulation in the market and barriers to entering and expanding the formula milk market.

If there are problems, especially signs of market manipulation, the CMA can propose new regulations on how formula milk is marketed or provide information to parents to help them choose milk brands. formula is more competitively priced. The results of the investigation will be announced by CMA in September.