Racial capitalism and the US formula shortage: A policy analysis of the formula industry as a neocolonial system

Abstract

The U.S. is currently experiencing a formula shortage and an infant feeding crisis that began with a formula recall and the hospitalization of 4 infants, 2 of whom died. Since 1981, governments around the world have been calling for an end to blatant human rights violations made by the commercial milk formula (CMF) industry. These practices not only involve targeting nutritionally vulnerable populations of mothers and newborns to turn a profit, but also actively undermining the implementation of policies, legislation, and regulatory oversight that might compromise their accumulation of wealth. In this paper we analyze the 2022 formula-shortage-as-infant-feeding-crisis through the lens of the history of colonialism and critical theory in the anthropology of reproduction. First, we provide an overview of the colonial roots of the formula industry from a global perspective. We then focus on how the mechanisms of racial exploitation remain entrenched in the U.S. approach to infant feeding policies, regulation and investment, setting the stage for the current infant feeding crisis. Through our analysis of the 2022 infant feeding crisis we demonstrate how the multinational CMF industry perpetuates racial capitalism and racialized health inequities and disparities through its operations as a neocolonial enterprise. Finally, we offer policy interventions and potential solutions that are grounded in structural interventions for more equitable, anticolonial, antiracist infant feeding systems.

Uneven reproduction: Gender, race, class, and birth outcomes

“…Additionally, there is a long and perverse history of corporate incursion of nonhuman milk products being marketed to women in Europe, the United States, and in Africa (see Stevens et al., 2009; Tomori & Palmquist, 2022). The racial and class consequences of infant formula was cultivated in the arms of the global project of capitalism.…”

A long-acting prolactin to combat lactation insufficiency

“…Lactating persons are shunned from breastfeeding in public spaces. Without adequate parental leave, most lactating persons are forced to return to the workforce where they are separated from their infants for the entire workday [44][45][46][47][48] . Sustained separation of lactating persons from their infants is the engrained norm.…”

Global lessons for strengthening breastfeeding as a key pillar of food security

“…The US’s inequities are reflected in the representation of women and children served by governmental nutrition programs: over half of infants in the US are supported by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) ( 42 ). Moreover, racial and ethnic minorities are overrepresented in WIC because of the aforementioned structural inequities ( 37 , 38 ). WIC has invested significantly in increasing breastfeeding support and has achieved much higher breastfeeding initiation rates, rising from 48.3% in 2002 to 78.5% in 2017 ( 43 ).…”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions throughout the country, including access to employment and consequently housing, food, and the first food environment ( 37 ). Multiple governmental policy measures were put in place to mitigate these impacts, including expanded access to Medicaid, unemployment and eviction protections, and food aid supplementation ( 45 ).…”

“…The US faced an additional disaster during the COVID pandemic, caused by corporate disregard for CMF safety regulations. In 2022, after reports of multiple cases of infant illness and deaths due to contaminated formula, Abbott shut down production at its largest facility, which produced approximately a quarter of the nation’s formula ( 37 ). For WIC participants, this meant a particularly acute crisis because WIC participants rely more on CMF and are restricted to a specific brand that their state has contracted with.…”