Baby formula, food for infant children, is under chronic shortage as the supply chain crisis worsens.
The countrywide supply of this important baby food has been reduced by almost 40% since April; the crisis is unlikely to be resolved any time soon.
Important Baby Food is No More in Markets
This issue has reached the White House, as a reporter inquired about the crisis to incoming White House press secretary Jean-Pierre.
She stated, “we have been tracking” this commodity, adding that solving this shortage is the “top priority” of the administration.
Though she ended up recommending parents find a “general powdered” formula to address the persistent shortage.
Congressional Republicans have censured the president heavily for his ignorance toward the issue of the shortage of baby formula.
Elise Stefanik and Ashley Hinson, two House Republicans, wrote a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf regarding the shortage.
In Joe Biden’s America, it is easier to abort babies than to feed them.
What a failure this guy is.
https://t.co/ad7DFx4X4C— Jeremy Boreing (@JeremyDBoreing) May 8, 2022
In the letter, the lawmakers wrote they are aware of the importance of the baby formula, being mothers themselves.
This shortage is causing panic among parents nationwide, according to the congresswoman.
Calling the current situation of empty shelves “unacceptable,” they noted parents should not face so many problems and have to struggle to find the much-needed formula.
The baby formula shortage is a matter of life and death, and it's time this administration treats this crisis with the urgency it deserves.
I just sent a letter with over 100 of my @HouseGOP colleagues demanding the Biden administration take action now ↓https://t.co/F9zmhtmWvN
— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) May 12, 2022
Baby Formula Crisis May Persist for Months
Meanwhile, baby formula manufacturers are also in a panic as they are unable to operate their plants. One of the owners of a renowned baby formula plant noted his company can restart the production in the upcoming two weeks.
However, he noted the shortage is likely to persist over the next six to eight weeks, even after the start of the production.
In February, a plant owned by Abbott Laboratories was shut down when the news of two infant deaths made headlines while some of the infants started consuming only a specific type of formula.
If the Food and Drug Administration allows it, the plant can restart its protection as soon as two weeks.
In the first week of May, the shortage started becoming chronic, as nearly 43% of normal supplies of the formula were disrupted.
Abbott denounced the claims of the FDA that its formulas were linked to the killing of babies.
The agency noted one pathogen was found in the environmental testing of its products, but it was present in the “non-product contact areas of the facility.”
Reportedly, 25% of parents breastfeed their children up to the age of six in America, as per the data from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This makes an overwhelming majority of parents highly dependent on the formula, which they are unable to find.
Some of the other reasons for the current shortage of the formula are the persisting supply chain crisis, which worsened amid the times of COVID, thus creating a shortage of many food products.
