Please find attached a letter the US Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) has just sent to the House Education and Labor Committee regarding the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act. We have been in touch with the California WIC Association (CWA), which has been working hard on the issue of inserting language into this bill to give the USDA statutory authority to require a scientific analysis of the efficacy of functional ingredients (such as DHA) added to infant formula and other foods offered by WIC. This would require that the Institute of Medicine determine if the additives offered any benefit to infants as the manufacturers claim or if they just raised the price of the food.
A good article explaining this issue was written by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and can be found at http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3201.
Please consider sending a letter to Rep. Miller’s office, by close of business on Monday, June 28. Read on for details…
Essentially the language asks that WIC provide these foods only if they confer actual health or nutritional benefits. Infant formula and baby foods with added DHA and other functional additives cost significantly more than formula without these additions and have caused WIC to pay $91 million a year more for infant formula. Formula companies essentially determine what foods WIC offers to babies rather than basing these choices on sound scientific data.
An important note: We have met with FDA in the past year, as have others working on this issue. FDA simply CANNOT take action on this issue unless legislation is passed giving them the statutory authority to do so. FDA considers only the safety of new ingredients and has no authority to consider whether ingredients actually offer the benefits promised. FDA has extremely limited authority over the kind of marketing claims being made about functional ingredients in formula. It would take major federal legislation and additional funding (FDA won’t be reauthorized until 2012), likely followed by years of lawsuits, to strengthen FDA’s regulatory authority around the kinds of claims that food manufacturers make. Furthermore, regardless of the actions that may be taken with FDA, infant formula and other foods with functional ingredients in the WIC food package should be subject to the same level of scientific scrutiny that the rest of the WIC food package undergoes. Even if FDA undertakes stronger oversight over marketing claims, FDA has no jurisdiction over the WIC program. WIC will still grapple with whether or not to offer these products if no science-based process is put in place, regardless of whatever action FDA takes.
Although limited to the WIC program, this bill is a rare opportunity to pass legislation on this issue! WIC purchases 60% of the U.S. market share of infant formula for millions of babies…
Please consider sending a letter to Rep. Miller’s office, by close of business on Monday, June 28. (Please feel free to use USBC’s letter as a template.) They are expected to begin markup of the bill next week, so immediate action is necessary. They need to hear from as many organizations and individuals as possible!
To email Congressman Miller, go to this website:
http://georgemiller.house.gov/contact/email-me.shtml
Or call: (202) 225-2095
Or fax: (202) 225-5609
Thank you for all you do to support breastfeeding!
Best regards,
Megan E. Renner
United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)
The mission of the United States Breastfeeding Committee is to improve the Nation’s health by working collaboratively to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
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