Biden is taking steps to address the worsening baby formula shortage — but it could be months before shelves are fully restocked
The White House is working with retailers and manufacturers to boost baby formula supply as shortages continue to get worse.
Taiyou Nomachi/Getty Images
- Out-of-stock rates for infant formula ticked up to 43% last week at US retailers, according to Datasembly.
- President Biden had a meeting with manufacturers and retailers about fixing the supply.
- Abbott Nutrition said it could take up to ten weeks to get new product onto store shelves.
The White House took steps on Thursday to confront the nationwide baby formula shortage. It comes as retailers are starting to warn it may take months to address the problem.
The Biden administration announced a series of regulatory moves to get baby formula onto store shelves more quickly. They're pushing the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on profiteering, ensuring parents are able to use federal benefits on a wider range of formula products under WIC, a program that aids mothers, infants, and children.
The White House is also pushing agencies to increase imports of baby formula from abroad, which currently represents only about 2% of the formula consumed in the US .
"We will continue to find other ways to support the safe and rapid increase in production and distribution of this formula," a senior administration official told reporters on a press call.
Infant formula shortages were bad at the start of April, with out-of-stock percentages topping 30% at US stores during the week of April 3, according to grocery price tracking service Datasembly.
By the end of the month, that number was 40%, including six states with more than half of products out of stock: Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Tennessee.
One mom told the NBC affiliate in New Orleans she visited 11 stores in one day searching for formula for her 5-month-old son, and was only able to find two cans.
"This issue has been compounded by supply chain challenges, product recalls and historic inflation," Datasembly CEO Ben Reich said in a statement. "The situation has continued to worsen into 2022."
Last week, the shortages ticked up to 43% — a new all-time high.
A recall because of infant deaths due to bacteria in one formula was the most recent factor for the shortage, but COVID-19's impact on the supply chain, as well as the slow FDA-approval process for approving formulas, have exacerbated it.
In a statement, Abbott Nutrition pushed back on claims that its products were responsible for the illnesses in February, and said its Sturgis, Michigan plant was ready to reopen within about two weeks after a greenlight from the FDA.
Once production resumes, it would take up to eight more weeks for that new product to be available on store shelves. But lawmakers in Congress are piling pressure on the Biden administration to take wider action.
"Quick action is needed, and the White House must take decisive action," Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia wrote in a tweet. She's pushing the White House to roll back tariffs, ramp up formula imports, and invoke the Defense Production Act to boost domestic stock of baby formula.
Other Democrats assailed Abbott Nutrition for pouring money into purchasing shares of its own stock instead of dealing with supply issues. "While it would not be a silver bullet to the current baby formula crisis, taxing stock buybacks would make companies think twice before putting shareholders ahead of American families," Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement to Insider.
The FDA has faced criticism for not approving more European formulas, and a growing number of parents are importing them illegally, The New York Times reported in March. One study found that many of them meet FDA guidelines, but factors such as the uncertainty about what temperature conditions they're imported in present safety concerns.
In spite of the shortages, pediatricians and the FDA strongly advise against feeding infants with watered-down or homemade formula.