What's in Your Baby's Bottle: Trump Administration Proposes First Major Infant Formula Update in Nearly 30 Years
The FDA wants more iodine and vitamin D, new limits on manganese and vitamin A, and public input on DHA and ARA. Here is what changes, what does not, what the new contaminant tests found, and when families will see a difference.
By Clara Hughes
For many American families, infant formula is not a side issue. It is dinner, breakfast and the 3 a.m. feeding. On October 29, the Trump administration proposed the first major update to the nutrition rules behind that formula in nearly three decades. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the announcement at Amanda the Panda Children Center in Des Moines, Iowa, according to HHS. "Parents deserve confidence in every bottle they feed their baby," Kennedy said. "Under President Trump's Operation Stork Speed and Make America Healthy Again agenda, we are proposing stronger nutrient requirements, testing formula for contaminants, and putting the results directly in parents' hands. We will hold infant formula manufacturers to rigorous scientific standards and put babies' health first." Here is what the proposal does, what it does not do, and what parents and grandparents should know. Why now: a review that was decades overdue The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act directs the FDA to review infant formula nutrient requirements every four years, "as appropriate," the agency says. Yet the FDA describes this as its first comprehensive review since 1998. The review is part of Operation Stork Speed, which the administration launched in March 2025. "Under President Trump's