How could we possibly have a nationwide baby formula shortage crisis in America?, asks Nicole Russel.
There are some things that shouldn’t happen in America, and the shortage of baby formula we’re seeing now is one of them. Parents with an infant who is primarily fed through formula are thinking of little else right now. One Texas mom was forced to drive an hour just to find her baby formula. This should not be. Formula is unique in that it’s meticulously made to mimic the milk a mother can produce and it serves to feed only a very tiny human for a short period of time.
To magnify the problem, if the baby has been consuming only formula, he or she can handle little else. Many women who nurse still supplement with formula if their milk supply is low. In fact, around 50 percent of moms either give their babies breast milk and formula or just give their babies formula. Supply chain issues and inflation have contributed to the shortage, but Abbott Nutrition’s recall of several major brands in February seems to have taken the issue from a problem to a crisis. The recalls were necessary. Four babies fell ill and two died from drinking infections caused by consuming formula that had Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria in it. The facility was shut down and has not yet reopened — and it gets worse.
A whistleblower alleged as far back as October that Abbott has been covering up the fact that some batches of formula were contaminated. The Food and Drug Administration delayed inspections until January. Both may be culpable here. Did the FDA alert other brands of a possible supply crisis? Abbott produces the top-selling baby formula in the U.S.: Similac, which is about 40 percent of the entire market.
Between November and early April, the out-of-stock rate of baby formula jumped to 31%, and then to 40% to finish out April. In six states, including Texas, more than half of baby formula was completely sold out during the week starting April 24, a data site that tracks retail prices said. Still: There are upwards of 50 other formula brands available in the marketplace. Where are they? For months, we’ve been talking about the “supply chain crisis.” This is apparently what it looks like when it hits home — and I don’t mean you didn’t get your latest Amazon Prime find in two days. I mean, you’re feverishly worried that the four cans Target lets you buy online will last until you can find more. A manufacturing and delivery cycle now takes between 12 and 16 weeks from start to finish. Between freight delays, labor shortages, and winter storms, the 2021 supply chain issue created a 2022 supply chain crisis.
Moms who really need formula, like those on the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children programs, may find a shortage because Abbott’s Nutrition is one of the programs’ main suppliers. All this puts parents in a bind. Parents with formula-fed infants cannot give their children pureed food too soon, or it could cause allergies. Cow’s and goat’s milk are also no-nos, and watering formula down isn’t good for the baby, either. The office of Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, reportedly suggested that the FDA adopt the same kind of monitoring system for formula “that an agency task force recommended in 2019 to forestall prescription drug shortages.” The 2021 whistleblower’s report on Abbott should have been enough of a red flag: It’s time to set up an alarm system.
The FDA has requested money to do so in the next federal budget. For now, private manufacturers need to kick it into high gear, and parents must be ready to swallow the inevitable uptick in price. When a huge manufacturer is forced to shut down, combined with government-induced supply chain issues and inflation caused by stimulus checks and a pandemic, the free market sometimes struggles, and it needs attention to iron out the kinks. After all, America’s privileges look weakened when we can’t feed our most vulnerable citizens — our babies, writes Nicole Russel (Nicole Russell is a writer and mother of four who has covered law, politics and cultural issues for The Washington Examiner, The Daily Signal, The Atlantic and The New York Post. She was voted “most argumentative” in high school and is proud to have discovered that being an opinion writer in Texas was way cheaper and more exciting than getting a law degree anywhere else.)
Biden Is Letting Babies Go Hungry in America, writes Joel B. Pollak for Breitbart News
President Joe Biden is failing to address the acute shortage of baby formula across the country, which is resulting in panic for mothers, for whom formula is a necessary supplement or substitute for breast milk.
The New York Times reported Tuesday: “A Baby Formula Shortage Leaves Desperate Parents Searching for Food.” A headline once impossible in America.
On Wednesday, incoming press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked who at the White House was “running point” on the baby shortage. She had no idea.
Q: “Who’s running point on the formula [shortage] at the White House?”
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 11, 2022
Biden spokeswoman: “I don’t know, I can find out [laughs]” pic.twitter.com/A7myY0om2s
Instead, she assured reporters that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was rushing to make sure formula is “safe.” She blamed “Abbott’s voluntary recall of infant formula products,” which took place after four infants were hospitalized, and two died, though there is no proven link yet with the formula itself, according to the FDA.(The White House cannot get its message straight: on Monday, press secretary Jen Psaki said the FDA had “issued” the recall.)
Meanwhile, desperate mothers are considering their options: driving for hours to find formula somewhere; trying to restart or boost breast-feeding; or even trying to create their own homemade substitutes, which the government has advised them not to do.
They face the prospect of being unable to feed hungry, panicked, and crying infants, who are incapable of understanding why their mothers, who have nurtured them every moment of their lives thus far, are somehow, suddenly, declining to feed them.
If this were the Trump administration, the media would have been demanding answers. They would have been insisting that the president invoke the Defense Production Act, as they did of Trump during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
And Trump would have taken charge.
As former aide Stephen Miller argued, “There’d of course be no formula shortage if 45 were in office. But pretending there was: he’d have instantly issued [executive orders], brought formula CEOs to Oval Office for public mtg, held Cab Mtg to break all logjams, told FDA head fix or be fired, made all staff work overtime till SOLVED.”
What Biden does is pass the buck, despite promising voters in 2020: “I’ll take responsibility instead of blaming others.”
Biden agrees that it is a scandal when Americans go hungry. He shouted during a speech Wednesday: “Remember those long lines you’d see in a television and people lining up in all kinds of vehicles just to get a box of food in their trunk?” He added that the “MAGA crowd” wanted to ignore the destitute.
Never mind that Trump sent Americans stimulus checks; suspended rent and student loans; and gave businesses billions in emergency loans, while Democrats imposed mandates and lockdowns.
Well, now we have another hunger crisis — one that affects the most vulnerable human beings in our society.
And it is not enough to blame a recall, or the pandemic. Americans want Biden to do something.
But he is letting babies go hungry, writes Joel Pollak.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.