Families across the United States are still struggling to find baby formula as the shortage stretches into its eighth month. While stocking rates of formula have slowly been improving in the U.S., some products are still struggling to rebound in terms of supply.
The in-stock rate for baby formula in the country has climbed back to 82.24 percent. The supply, however, is still below the 89 percent supply American families were accustomed to before the formula crisis started back in February.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, around 33 percent of families in the country were still struggling to find baby formula in the month of September. The same survey revealed that nearly one in five affected households in the U.S. has less than one week of formula accessible to them.
Rural moms in the U.S. struggling with formula shortage
Moms living in rural areas are the ones having the hardest time accessing formula. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., told FOX Business that working families are having to drive further and further distances to access specialty formula or regular formula if they need these products and their store is sold out.
Stefanik experienced firsthand the empty shelves in stores after Abbott's facility shut down in February when a formula recall compounded ongoing supply-chain woes. As a new mom, Stefanik had to scramble to find formula in her rural district in upstate New York. Stores were rationing supply and specialty types of formula were unavailable on shelves.
Stefanik and other lawmakers have been calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to address why the federal agency did not act swiftly enough in response to the baby formula shortage. They are also asking why the FDA did not introduce bills that would accept additional formula manufacturers to the market.
While the agency did ease federal import regulations and the Biden administration airlifted millions of pounds of formula from abroad, some moms still worry that it is just a short-term fix to a market that lacks enough manufacturing domestically.
Moms resorting to Facebook groups for formula
Mom of two Jerri Janelle Rayburg struggled to find formula for her newborn son during her entire maternity leave. Her baby was diagnosed with a milk protein allergy and she spent hours driving to five or more stores for the specialty formula. She was specifically looking for the hyper-allergenic, sensitive and amino-based product for her son and she found herself relying on imported formula instead.
Rayburg said her formula is being shipped in from Switzerland. Mothers like Rayburg are still resorting to crowd-sourcing platforms, tracking sites, and Facebook groups to secure formula that their children desperately need.
Rayburg sometimes relies on text messages from the free website FindMyBabyFormula.com. The site helps American families track down baby formula.
