WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration’s commissioner says a shuttered baby formula factory could be up and running by next week. FDA Commissioner Robert Califf faced congressional anger Thursday for not answering questions about whether his agency should have intervened earlier at the Michigan plant tied to a national formula shortage. Members of a House subcommittee questioned Califf about why the FDA didn’t step in when there were signs of problems at Abbott Nutrition’s plant last fall before it was closed. The shortage has rattled parents and become a political headwind for President Joe Biden, who’s invoked the Defense Production Act to ease supply. Califf asked lawmakers for new food safety funding.
Photo: Infant formula is stacked on a table during a baby formula drive to help with the shortage Saturday, May 14, 2022, in Houston. Parents seeking baby formula are running into bare supermarket and pharmacy shelves in part because of ongoing supply disruptions and a recent safety recall. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)