The baby formula shortage in the United States that federal leaders once said would be fixed within weeks has now dragged on for months, despite tons of formula imports and key steps forward in terms of domestic production.
Formula stock rates have been dropping since the end of February, when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shut down a major formula plant in Michigan and issued a recall of products manufactured there after an inspection found dangerous bacteria in several areas of the facility.
The closure worsened shortages caused by supply chain disruptions, leaving American families struggling to find formula for their infants and people with specific nutrition needs, according to CNN.
Formula stock rates still low despite imports
More than 20 percent of formula products (powder, liquid, and ready-to-drink) have been out of stock for the past six weeks, according to data released by market research firm Information Resources Inc. (IRI) on Wednesday, July 20. About 10 percent of infant formula products were typically out of stock before the recall.
Formula stock hit a low late last month as 22.4 percent of products were out of stock during the week ending June 26. Since then, the Abbott plant in Sturgis that was at the heart of the recall has resumed formula production. Flooding from severe storms in the area halted production for most of June, but it has been back up and running for about three weeks now, according to NPR.
That being said, the nationwide shortage still persists as stock rates have only improved by less than 1 percentage point in that time. Last week, 21.9 percent of formula products were out of stock in the United States.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday, July 20, that there is a robust pipeline of formula coming into the United States. He added that production is finally outpacing purchasing as families have eased up on stockpiling too.
Federal leaders have been reluctant throughout the shortage to share a timeline for when things might get back to normal. Califf's comments were more tempered this week than they have been.
Biden's Operation Fly Formula still ongoing
He said back in May that supply should be back to normal within a matter of weeks. The Biden administration has announced more than a dozen missions over the past two months to bring formula into the United States through Operation Fly Formula.
The announcements total more than 4 million pounds of formula so far. The latest mission will carry formula that is enough to make about 61 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents.
But according to IRI, an average of about 561,000 pounds of dry powder formula was sold each day in 2021, or about 17 million pounds each month. That means the Operation Fly Formula missions that have been announced to date account for just about a week of typical powder formula sales in the United States.
