WASHINGTON (AP) — A baby formula shortage in the United States is driving parents to swap, sell and offer leftover supplies to each other, while President Joe Biden plans to speak with manufacturers and retailers Thursday about the plight facing families.
The problem is the result of supply chain disruptions and a safety recall, and has had a cascade of effects: Retailers are limiting what customers can buy, and doctors and health workers are urging parents to contact food banks or physicians’ offices, in addition to warning against watering down formula to stretch supplies or using online DIY recipes.
The shortage is weighing particularly on lower-income families after the recall by formula maker Abbott stemming from contamination concerns. That recall wiped out many brands covered by WIC, a federal program that serves mothers, infants and children, though the program now permits brand substitutes.
Jennifer Kersey, 36, of Cheshire, Connecticut, said she was down to her last can of formula for her 7-month old son, Blake Kersey Jr., before someone saw her post on a Facebook group and came by with a few sample cans.
“At first I was starting to panic,” she said. “But, I’m a believer in the Lord, so I said, ‘God, I know you’re going to provide for me and I just started reaching out to people, ‘Hey do you have this formula?’”
She said she and others in the group are helping each other, finding stores that may have the formula in stock and getting formula to mothers who need it.
“If someone offers me and says, ‘I have these three,’ I’ll say ‘I’ll take the purple can and then put the other ones on that website. I’m not going to hoard stuff. I’m making sure that everybody has what they need.”
Kimberly Anderson, 34, of Hartford County, Maryland, said her 7-month-old son takes a prescription formula that’s been nearly impossible to find locally. She turned to social media and said people in Utah and Boston found the formula, which she paid to have shipped.
“They say it takes a village to raise a baby,” she said. “Little did I know my village spans the entire U.S. as I ping friends/family for their zip codes so I can check their local Walmarts to have them ship directly to me.”
Erika Thompson, 28, a mother of three in Wallingford, Conn., said it’s become almost a full-time job for her to track down the hypoallergenic formula her 3-month-old daughter, Everly, must have. She said friends out of state have also been looking for her and shipping cans if they find them.
She is down to one small sample can, which she said might last a couple more days.
“You can travel everywhere — countless towns, stores, Amazon, online,” she said. “Honestly, it’s heartbreaking. Certain stores have absolutely nothing and now they’re limiting you. So what do you do?”
She said it’s been upsetting to read comments online telling her she should have breastfed instead. She said she was unable to produce an adequate supply of milk, but she should not have to explain that to people.
Shortages of basic goods including medical supplies, computer chips and household supplies have been a problem since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020.
