US Baby Formula Crisis Worsens As Out-Of-Stock Levels Hits 30% Nationwide

The US baby formula shortage has worsened with 30 percent of all brands now being reported as out-of-stock.

Families in Arizona and Wyoming are being hit the hardest by the shortage with out-of-stock rates at 44  percent and 42 percent, respectively.

The nationwide crsis continues despite President Biden’s efforts to make infant milk more accessible.

The Mail Online reports: Biden and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have made it easier for foreign manufacturers to get shipments into the country, and appealed to companies such as Nestle and Reckitt to step up production.

French consumer goods company Danone on Wednesday said it had shipped more than 750,000 cans of its flagship Aptamil baby formula to the U.S. from Europe, with another 550,000 cans on the way.

However, parents struggling to feed their children have slammed the administration, with one Louisiana mom alleging it seems like those in power ‘just forgot’ about the ongoing crisis.

Amber Bergeron, who took to Facebook about the hardships of finding formula for her preemie twins, has described the ongoing crisis as ‘disgusting,’ noting she is ‘sure these politicians’ babies eat.’

In-stock rates of infant formula remain far below normal levels, despite recent trends showing a rise in formula inventory. 

The nation reported a 30 percent out-of-stock rate on Friday, based on data from the week ended July 24. The week prior, ending July 17, the out-of-stock rate was 32 percent.

Biden’s solution to the ongoing shortage has been to fly in foreign formula to try to plug the gap, but the 802,446 bottles that arrive per shipment barely line the stomachs of the 3 million babies born every year. 

Danone, who has agreed to supply 1.3 million cans of Aptamil to the U.S., shipped out more than 750,000 this week. The initial shipments are already on shelves and online at Walgreens, Safeway and some other retailers.

The additional 550,000 cans that are en route from New Zealand will likely be available in August, the company claims.

Danone also imported more than 500,000 cans of Neocate, a specialized medical baby formula. 

The Biden Administration revealed last week that as of July 24, the Operation Fly Formula program has transported the equivalent of 61 million 8-ounce bottles of formula into the U.S.

But Bergeron – like many other parents – fears the efforts aren’t enough.

‘We were put in a position that no mothers should be put in,’ she previously told Fox News. ‘We feel helpless. We feel like, as a community, we are trying to take care of this instead of [the right people] stepping in.

‘People are not paying attention to what’s really going on here and the severity of it, but it’s still happening. It’s like they just forgot.’