Right now, one of the hardest items to find on supermarket shelves is one of the most important: baby food. Due to shortages, families across the country are scribbling on each other. The most vulnerable are hit hardest when there is a shortage of supply.
What is happening?
According to data firm Datasembly, the shortage of US milk powder reserves in the first half of 2021 is only about 2-8%. By April 2022, that number had skyrocketed to 31%. At the beginning of May, 43% of baby food in US stores was out of stock, a doubling from the first half of 2021.
According to a quote from The Atlantic, more than half of the formula is sold out in stores in many US states, including Texas and Tennessee. When parents started stocking infant formula, retailers such as Walgreens, CVS, and Target all began to restrict purchases.
Milk powder shortage in US states from 8 May. Source: Data Assembly.
Some parents who want to feed their babies have tried to dilute the infant formula or make their own. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) had to warn against mixing the wrong proportions or making your own milk.
Pediatricians are also sounding the alarm that nutrient deficiencies can be very serious and even catastrophic.
What causes a shortage of milk powder?
Milk shortages are not a new problem, but what has led this to become a crisis in the United States?
The first cause may be bacteria. In February, leading US infant formula manufacturer Abbott ordered a product recall after four babies were hospitalized with bacterial infections. Two of them died on suspicion of drinking powdered milk produced at the Sturgis, Michigan plant.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has investigated the infant formula manufacturer Abbott. The research found traces of Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria in powdered milk produced at a plant in Michigan. Parents are advised not to purchase or use certain infant formulas associated with this factory site.
Product recalls are common. Thousands of drugs and products are recalled every year. But this did not cause chaos at the pharmacy. So there is something strange going on with the recall of milk powder.
The percentage of milk powder in stores across the country.Source: Datasembly.
This leads to the second cause, namely the virus. The Covid-19 pandemic has turned the supply chain upside down.
“In the spring of 2020, formula sales skyrocketed as people stock up on powdered milk just like they stock toilet paper,” said Lyman Stone, director of research at consulting firm Demographic Intelligence.
Once the families stocked up, sales plummeted. This fluctuation makes production planning extremely difficult. As a result, suppliers have cut production to 2021.
Meanwhile, Stone’s research found a sharp rise in births in early 2022, while breastfeeding rates plummeted. This again stimulates the demand for infant formula. Orders are growing faster than new supply has just recovered.
A nearly empty shelf of baby food in New York City. Photo: Getty Images.
The third is US regulatory and trade policy. While this has not received much attention, it is arguably the main cause of the crisis.
FDA regulations on formulas are so strict that it is illegal to buy products made in Europe in the US. The reason may stem from insignificant details, such as labeling requirements.
One study found that many European infant formulas met FDA nutritional guidelines. In some ways, the European formula may even be better than the American formula, because the European Union bans certain sugars.
Even milk meets FDA requirements, US policy also restricts the import of this product. For large volumes, the import levy on bottle feeding can rise to more than 17%.
US policy is also moving the industry in another direction. The Department of Agriculture has a special group called WIC, which stands for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. WIC has awarded contracts to a handful of infant formula companies.
When will this situation end?
According to Datasembly, Tennessee residents have the highest percentage of sold out products. Meanwhile, the dairy shelves in stores in Las Vegas, Houston and Charlotte are empty.
Those with sufficient resources and abilities drive long distances in search of infant formula. They pay an outrageous price. But many low-income families find it difficult to do so
Some families don’t have a lot of cash on hand, so they can’t save the formula. In many states, Abbott Nutrition is the only entity that helps low-income families receive benefits through WIC. That means parents looking to buy milk will have to go the extra mile to contact their local WIC office for alternatives or pay out of pocket.
Breastfeeding is not for everyone. For example, mothers with medical conditions or a limited supply of breast milk depend on infant formula. Mothers in the US often have to return to work quickly after giving birth and are unable to breastfeed.
Due to FDA regulations, the sourcing formula from other countries is largely out of reach for US consumers. The FDA will provide details on expanding infant formula imports and “added flexibility” for domestic manufacturers and suppliers to have more formulas on store shelves.
The FDA is also working with larger manufacturers such as Mead Johnson, Nestle, Danone and Perrigo to increase the supply.
Some individuals are calling for federal action to break the monopoly of a few companies in the formula market. Senators such as Booker, Warren and several others called for an immediate review of the antitrust laws.
The doctors also called for policy changes to better support breastfeeding mothers. The US is the only industrialized country that does not have a paid maternity leave policy. “It’s very difficult to successfully breastfeed your baby and still go back to work,” says Duggan. “Our government and policymakers can do a lot to support breastfeeding families,” Duggan says. breast milk”.
“What we want to maximize is the overall global capacity, flexibility and dynamism of the entire system,” said Scott Lincicome, economic and commercial director at the Cato Institute. important by having as much as possible in a flexible system that can replace the supply of one plant with another.”
Source: CafeF
