The infant formula crisis is a perfect storm of bad actors and bad policy.
The Food and Drug Administration’s delayed and weak inspections, hyper-consolidation of our food and farm system, and abysmal antitrust policies have created a crisis for families across the country as they struggle to adequately and safely feed their infants.
The baby formula market is an extreme oligopoly. Just three companies control 85 percent of all liquid formula sales and up to 95 percent of powdered formula, enabling them to engage in anticompetitive tactics such as price fixing that hurt consumers.Corporate concentration has created a fragile system where just one recall creates a massive food shortage.
As the system crumbles, vulnerable consumers are left without food for their infants; low-income families are disproportionately impacted.
U.S. Senators Cory Booker, Jon Tester, Jeff Merkley and Elizabeth Warren, and Representative Mark Pocan recently introduced the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act. This critical legislation would:
Establish a commission to study how to strengthen antitrust oversight of the farm and food sectors
Have the commission publish recommended improvements to merger enforcement
Place an immediate and indefinite moratorium on acquisitions and mergers in the food and agriculture sector until Congress acts on the recommendations from the commission
Alarming levels of corporate concentration mean that big companies dictate the prices we pay for essential items like baby formula. These corporate food giants are hurting families across the country.
Mega-mergers only benefit Big Ag corporations, not the farmers, workers or consumers they claim to help. That’s why we need bills like the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act to create a more just and sustainable food system. With your help, we can take down corporate dominance of our food and farm system and fight for a better future.
Food & Water Watch and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Action, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate.
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