Baby Formula Shortage Still Going Strong

Just because the media stopped talking about it doesn't mean store shelves are now stocked with baby formula. The supply remains low. So, what's being done to fix the situation?

Whoisjohngalt, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

There are too many significant stories to keep up with right now.

That’s been the case since March of 2020. One important event after another seems to be the new normal. A crisis on Monday can be forgotten by Wednesday.

For example, did you know the baby formula shortage is still unresolved?

In early May, we looked at why a baby formula shortage was happening in the first place. (It turns out the FDA shut down the largest baby formula factory. With only a few baby formula factories in the U.S. - this is a big deal.)

On June 16, we focused on the ‘root cause’ of the baby formula shortage: the economic lockdowns prevented FDA food plant inspectors from working - thus causing the Michigan plant to go without any health inspections for two years. Not surprisingly, the plant shut down due to bacteria contamination.

And then news consumers moved on - the baby formula shortage was lost in a sea of dead cows, Uvalde, Ghislaine Maxwell, Roe v. Wade drama, and Inflation - that’s just the past two weeks!

Kudos to Townhall for pointing out that the baby formula crisis is still raging.

“The White House announced yet another import of baby formula from overseas this week as the shortage crisis continues and store shelves across the United States remain bare. 

According to a fact sheet forwarded from the Food and Drug Administration, 18,677 cans of Abbott Nutrition formula from Ireland -- equaling approximately 535,000 full-size, 8-ounce bottles -- will be available in the U.S. in mid-July.”

The FDA - the closers of the largest baby formula factory in America because they didn’t consider their food inspectors to be “essential workers” - claim to be “working around the clock” to reopen the Michigan plant.

The Abbott Nutrition plant in Sturgis, MI, reportedly reopened briefly on June 4 but was shut down in mid-June due to flooding.

Yesterday, Food Safety News reported the infant formula plant in Michigan “remains closed for flood cleanup; no word on how long it will take.”

This story gets forgotten if you don’t have an infant. But there are a lot of babies out there, and this situation affects millions of families.

The baby formula crisis also symbolized the “new normal” supply chain and the government mishandling the economy.

The issue gained a lot of attention a few weeks ago.

Today, most media outlets moved on to the latest crisis.

Wait…What’s This?

Meanwhile, just when you think little to nothing is being done to solve the problem - I found this press release: Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania Announces Additional $8.25 Million Investment in ByHeart to Directly Support Increased Infant Formula Production.

ByHeart is “the nation’s newest FDA-registered baby formula manufacturer, located in Pennsylvania. The investment will support increased capacity and hiring, ultimately feeding up to 500,000 more babies.”

“Pennsylvania is the first state in the nation to directly invest in a partial solution to the nation’s formula shortage. ByHeart’s FDA registration strengthens the U.S. infant nutrition supply chain.”

ByHeart will be the fifth infant formula manufacturer in the United States “and the first new FDA-registered manufacturer to hit the market in more than 15 years.”

Hopefully, this new facility will go up swiftly. There is no mention of a start date when this new plant will be up and running.