The baby formula shortage story has so many elements. But the top line is that the closure of the country’s largest baby formula plant in February has many parents worried they might not be able to feed their babies. And there are no answers from government and business.
There are no answers from government and business, other than parents who can’t find formula should call their pediatricians. Health angles. The possible contamination of formula from Abbott Nutrition may have sickened four babies. Two died after consuming powdered formula manufactured by the company’s facility in Sturgis, Michigan. Abbott has questioned whether the rare infections caused by Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria occurred because of its formula. Misinformation angles. Parents are looking for alternatives to formula and wading through misinformation about how to feed their babies during the shortage. Don’t try to make your own formula, experts have told CNN. Business angles. Shutting down one single factory exacerbated pandemic-related supply chain issues and supercharged this nationwide shortage — even though only certain batches of Similac, Alimentum and EleCare powdered infant formulas were actually recalled in February. More than half of formula is out of stock in eight states and the District of Columbia, according to a new report from Datasembly, a real-time data tracking agency. Abbott said on Wednesday that it could restart production at the Michigan facility, pending US Food and Drug Administration approval, within two weeks. Formula from the shuttered plant could be on shelves six to eight weeks after that. Whistleblower angles. A former employee sent detailed allegations to the FDA that Abbott was hiding safety issues months before formula was recalled. Transparency angles. The FDA was first aware of complaints about baby formula back in September, according to documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests by Consumer Reports and other news organizations, but the Abbott recall didn’t occur until four months later.
