Iowa is among the states running lowest on baby formula. These politicians are demanding action.

Stephen Gruber-Miller
Des Moines Register
The Walgreens on South Cliff Avenue in Sioux Falls had mostly bare shelves for baby formula on Monday, May 9.

As Iowans struggle to find baby formula amid a nationwide shortage, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said this week it is "working tirelessly" to solve the problem.

The widespread shortages are being caused by a combination of recalls, supply chain issues and inflation and have resulted in empty shelves at stores around the country.

An analysis by Datasembly showed 43% of popular baby formula brands were sold out at retailers around the country last week. The company, which tracks fluctuations in availability, found formula was relatively stable during the first half of 2021, with the out of stock rate staying between about 2% and 8%. Shortages hit 30% in April and have continued climbing.

A previous analysis for the week starting April 24 found Iowa was one of six states with supply shortages higher than 50% and that the Des Moines metro area was tied for the fourth-highest out-of-supply rate in the country, at 50%.

Several members of Iowa's congressional deligation are demanding action. 

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican seeking an eighth term in the Senate this year, sent a letter Tuesday to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf asking what the agency is doing to boost production of all baby formula brands and to resume production at a Michigan formula facility that has been shuttered since mid-February.

"I’m going to keep on top of it," Grassley told reporters on a conference call Wednesday. "We’ve got to help families feed their kids and empty shelves are unacceptable."

U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican who represents northeast Iowa in Congress, also sent a letter to the FDA Tuesday, writing that "parents should never be in a position of not knowing where to procure formula for their babies."

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, a Republican who represents western Iowa in Congress, introduced a bill Wednesday that would establish standards for how the FDA regulates baby formula that could make it easier to import formula from other countries.

In a news release Tuesday afternoon, the FDA said it is meeting with formula manufacturers about how they can produce more formula, streamlining the importation of some formula products and asking stores to put limits on how much formula individuals can buy in order to preserve inventory.

"Ensuring the availability of safe, sole-source nutrition products like infant formula is of the utmost importance to the FDA," Califf said in the news release. "Our teams have been working tirelessly to address and alleviate supply issues and will continue doing everything within our authority to ensure the production of safe infant formula products."

More:Baby formula shortage worsens: About 40% of popular brands sold out across US

In mid-February, Abbott Nutrition recalled formula from its facility in Sturgis, Michigan after reports of complaints of bacterial infections in four babies who had consumed formula from the facility. All four of the babies were hospitalized and two died. The facility, which is a major manufacturer of powdered baby formula, has remained shut down in the months since the recall.

Abby Finkenauer, a former U.S. representative who's running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Grassley, last month called on the Biden administration to invoke the Defense Production Act to increase the supply of baby formula to address the shortage. The law gives the president wide authority to direct domestic manufacturing and has been used recently to boost production of COVID-19 vaccines and tests.

"We need all hands on deck to address the dangerous shortage of baby formula in Iowa and across the country," Finkenauer said in a statement on April 29. "The Biden administration should invoke the Defense Production Act, bringing any and all federal resources to the table to increase the supply of baby formula and address the shortage. I’ve been listening to Iowa parents, and we need action now as they are doing everything they can to try to get their little ones the nutrients they need to grow and thrive."

After Grassley sent his letter on Tuesday, Finkenauer criticized him on Twitter for acting too slowly.

"A FDA study isn’t cutting it. I have friends my age trying to feed their babies," she tweeted. "Representation matters — and it’s telling that it’s taken @ChuckGrassley so long to notice."

More:The baby formula shortage is getting worse—here are other options to feed an infant

Grassley said Wednesday that the Defense Production Act "would be an appropriate tool" to deal with the problem.

"I’m not in the position to say whether that’s going to solve the problem," he said. "Because if it’s a matter of the safety at the manufacturing plants and the FDA has to deal with safety you wouldn’t want to put the Defense Production Act into action and then produce unsafe food."

Meanwhile, national retailers in some instances are limiting how much formula shoppers can buy at one time. 

Walgreens continues to limit shoppers to three infant and toddler formula products per transaction, Walgreens Boots Alliance spokesman Steve Cohen said. "Due to increased demand and various supplier challenges, infant and toddler formulas are seeing constraint across the country," he said.

The situation is the same at CVS, which limits three baby formula products per purchase in its stores and online, according to a statement to USA TODAY from CVS Health, which owns the pharmacy chain. "We’re continuing to work with our baby formula vendors to address this issue and we regret any inconvenience this causes our customers," the statement continued.

Target is also limiting shoppers to up to four formula products at a time, the retailer told CBS News.

After recently visiting three different stores in one day last month, Elyssa Schmier, the vice president of government relations for advocacy group MomsRising," all of a sudden realized my formula was nowhere to be found," she told USA TODAY. "It's almost a full-time job trying to find Similac."

USA Today contributed to this report.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.