Parents and politicians alike are slamming President Biden for his failure to address the US’ ongoing baby formula shortage – with one distressed dad saying ‘never did I think I would have a problem finding food for my baby in America.’
The backlash against Biden comes as the formula shortage has reached crisis levels in recent weeks, with at least 12 states facing 40 percent or higher out of stock rates
As shelves across the country meant to carry formula remain largely barren, parents such as Russell Bleck, a husband and father in Lexington, Kentucky, have become desperate to get their hands on the all important product.
The couple, who survived the notorious Las Vegas concert shooting in 2017 – the deadliest mass shooting by an individual in US history – moved to Kentucky later that year ahead of the birth of their daughter, Aurora, now 3, with plans to raise a family.
Speaking to Fox News Digital Friday, Bleck – whose wife, Bre, gave birth to the pair’s second child, Asher, six weeks ago – said he finds the shortage ‘very stressful,’ and pleaded for both the government and media to better address the crisis.
Meanwhile, parents across the country have also taken to social media to plead for political action and more media coverage to address the shortage, posting pictures of barren store shelves as the shortage continues to worsen.
‘If the MSM [mainstream media] can talk about the toilet paper shortage ever (sic) hour, they should be talking about the baby formula shortage at least,’ one concerned mother wrote last week.
‘We ended [up] finding the Amazon brand online but not everyone is so lucky to be able to feed that. Please share. This is every store!’
Another mom in New York told WKTV earlier in the week that she went to ‘five different stores’ and still failed to find any formula. ‘I cried in the store because I couldn’t find what she needed,’ the emotional mom told the outlet Tuesday.
Ashleigh Olsen, of Jacksonville, Florida, said her 9-month-old is limited to a specific formula she orders straight from the manufacturer as her son could face an allergic reaction to others. But there is no word on when it will be available again.
‘Luckily I stocked up last time. So today when I opened my last can, that kind of lit my fire a little bit,’ Olsen said.
In the Midwest, Kassidi Hillard, who has a 2-month-old who needs Similac Pro-Advance, told WDRB she has ‘looked at every store in Indiana and here (in Kentucky) and haven’t found her formula at not one store.
‘It’s kind of stressful, cause if you can’t find formula, it’s like they can’t eat nothing else,’ Hillard said. ‘They can’t have baby food, they can’t have hard food, they can’t have what we eat so it’s really, it’s not an easy thing to go through.’
In Texas, Emily Pyeatt, 22, wrote on Facebook that she recently went to eight stores in search of formula for her 8-month-old.
This is the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced,’ she wrote on March 30. ‘How are we supposed to feed our children when there’s NO FORMULA ON THE SHELVES?’
She later told the Washington Post that as she was down to her last three cans, she has been easing her son onto more solid foods, as she does not produce enough milk to breastfeed.
‘It was a very heartbreaking decision to stop, and I think it’s upsetting for someone to say that,’ Pyeatt said, adding: ‘I pray for the women who have babies who are not old enough for solid food.’
Danielle Arzola, 27, also of Texas, told the Post that when she tried to switch formula brands, her 6-month-old got sick, and she now has to drive all over town to find the brand she needs. She has even resorted to buying formula from people in other states.
The shortage has gotten so dire, that even the country’s largest retailers – such as CVS, Walgreens, and Target – are rationing baby formula amid a national shortage.
Last month, both CVS – the country’s largest pharmacy chain – and popular big-box option Target announced restrictions on the amount of formula purchases shoppers can make, both online and in-person.
A spokesperson for Target – which boasts 1,931 stores nationwide – announced stores in most states will now have a five-per-day limit on baby formula purchases, at the request of the Food and Drug Administration.
CVS, meanwhile, which oversees 9,932 US stores, are limiting customers to three purchases a day.
‘Following supplier challenges and increased customer demand, we’ve added a limit of three baby formula products per purchase in our stores and online,’ a spokesperson for the drug store told DailyMail.com following the announcement.
‘We’re continuing to work with our baby formula vendors to address this issue and we regret any inconvenience this causes our customers,’ the spokeswomen said.
Also limiting quantities of baby formulas that consumers can pick up is storied supermarket chain Kroger – which has nearly 2,800 locations nationwide – and drug store stalwart Walgreen’s, which have both implemented limits on customers.
Walgreen’s – the second-largest pharmacy chain in the country – said it is similarly limiting customers to three infant and toddler formula product purchases at a time at its 9,021 US locations.
A company spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the restrictions, which have been in effect for more than a month, stem from an ‘increased demand and various supplier issues.’
National out-of-stock levels jumped nine percentage points from 31 percent to 40 percent between April 3 and April 24, according to an analysis from Datasembly, which tracked baby formula stock at more than 11,000 retailers.
In the week ending April 24, CBS News reports, 40 to 50 percent of the top-selling baby formula products were out of stock at stores across the country, Datasembly reported.
For the week of April 3, at least 12 states faced out of stock rates higher than 40 percent, including Connecticut, Delaware, Montana, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington, Datasembly reported.
During the same time period Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota suffered 50 to 51 percent shortage, Missouri a 52 percent shortage, Texas 53 percent and Tennessee a whopping 54 percent shortage.
Meanwhile 12 major metro areas faces out of stock rates higher than 40 percent, including Baltimore, Charlotte, Des Moines, Greenville, Hartford-New Haven, Houston, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans Mobile, Oahu, San Antonio, and Seattle.
Three metro areas had out of stock rates 50 percent and higher, including Des Moines with a 50 percent shortage, Minneapolis with a 55 percent shortage and San Antonio with 56 percent.
Now, baby formula producers are working to once again ramp up production.
‘We know that this recall has further exacerbated an industry-wide instant formula supply shortage,’ Abbott Labs told the Washington Post in a statement.
‘We are doing everything we can to address it,’ the company said, including ramping up production of Similac, air-freighting in products from Europe and working with health care providers to identify alternative formulas.
In the meantime, experts say, parents should not dilute their baby’s formula, try to make their own formula at home or try to replace it with cow’s milk.
Doing so is ‘not nutritionally comparable with breast milk or infant formula,’ according to Brian Dittmeier, senior director of public policy at the National WIC Association, and could cause nutrient deficiencies that can have a ‘profound impact on an infant’s growth and development.’
He said any parents who are struggling to find formula can contact their local WIC agencies and food banks for help locating some in their communities.
The Infant Nutrition Council of America is also encouraging parents to keep a 10-day to two week supply of formula at home – but is urging them not to stockpile products as the shortage continues – and experts say there is no end in sight.
The president has yet to comment on or address the shortage.