Israeli company Else Nutrition created a vegan baby formula after the cofounder's granddaughter was unable to tolerate breastmilk and was allergic to every type of formula on the market. It's become popular in Israel and is sold as far away as Australia. But the company can't sell its infant formula in the United States due to nutritional requirements set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Now, Else Nutrition is putting its hopes in Operation Stork Speed, an initiative from Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., aimed at "beginning the nutrient review process and increasing testing for heavy metals and other contaminants," and "encouraging companies to develop new infant formulas."
America's baby formula rules are due for an update. The current rules were set by the Infant Formula Act of 1980, with only minimal updates since then. The last major tweak to formula standards came in 2001 when the FDA allowed docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a fatty acid critical to brain development, to be added if manufacturers wanted.
