A baby formula shortage has added to the woes of American parents already confronted with the pressures of raising an infant during a pandemic.
The Conversation asked Dr. Steven Abrams, a leading expert on pediatric health at the University of Texas who has advised both the formula industry and government on infant nutrition, what’s behind the shortage along with what advice he could give parents.
1. Why there is a shortage of formula now?
There are really two factors that have driven the current shortage. First, we have the supply chain problem, which has affected all manner of goods since the onset of the pandemic. It eased off a little, but then at the beginning of 2022 it became worse.
Then in February a major baby formula manufacturing plant in U.S. went down. The FDA shut down Abbott Nutrition’s factory in Michigan. The closure came after Abbott’s nationwide recall of multiple brands of formula.
Closing the factory had to be done amid an investigation into bacterial infections in connection to powdered formula produced at the plant, and the deaths of at least two babies. The problem is there just isn’t much redundancy in U.S. infant formula production. The Michigan plant is the largest producer in the country, so when it goes down, it put added strain on the entire U.S. formula distribution system, especially for certain formulas for babies with high-risk allergic diseases and metabolic disorders.
Over the last couple of weeks the shortage has gotten worse. I can’t say for sure why this has happened. But I suspect there has been some hoarding going on as parents get anxious.
2. Who is the shortage affecting?
A majority of parents will feed babies with formula at some point to meet their nutritional needs, especially older infants. At birth and in days immediately after, around 80% of babies receive all their nutrition through breast milk. But by the age of 6 months, the majority of babies get at least some formula. The proportion of year-old babies receiving formula is even higher. This is largely the result of social dynamics and pressures — mothers going back to work after giving birth, but not receiving sufficient support to produce and store sufficient amounts of breast milk.
But the shortage will affect some parents more than others. Not surprisingly, the most affected parents are those on the lowest income. The federal food program for poorer women, infants and children, called WIC, provides formula for a majority of babies in low-income families. But costs have gone up and formula has become scarcer.
3. What are the potential consequences of the shortage?
In the first six months, babies should only have breast milk or formula — anything else fed to them will be nutritionally incomplete. So there is a risk that a shortage will mean that babies will not be getting the nutrition they need to develop. That could lead to a range of health problems affecting their physical growth and brain development.
Then there are concerns that parents may be using unsafe alternatives, like watering down their baby’s formula. People have been known to try and make their own by mixing powdered milk or vegan milk with vitamins. Not only are these alternatives not nutritionally complete, they may not be entirely sterile.
After the age of six months, things get a little better once the infant is able to start eating solid food. But even then, formula or breast milk remains the primary source of nutrition. So there may still be a risk of nutritional deficiencies, such as iron deficiencies.
4. Are there any viable alternatives?
Over the age of six months of age, for only reasonably short periods of time, parents can feed infants whole cow milk and look into iron supplements.
