FDA to announce how it'll increase imports to address baby formula shortage

The Food and Drug Administration will soon announce how it plans to increase imports of infant formula from abroad, as U.S. parents and babies grapple with a formula shortage sparked in part by the closure of an Abbott facility in Michigan. 

But President Biden will not be invoking the Defense Production Act to increase production at this time, senior administration officials told reporters on a call Thursday. The production of infant formula in the U.S. now surpasses production before the the discovery of bacterial contamination shuttered the Abbott facility in February, but those senior officials could not say when shelves will be fully stocked again. 

"We know that the American people need to see products on the shelves consistently," one official said, adding, "I don't have a particular timeline for you, but we are working closely with partners across the federal government."