A baby formula shortage is leaving parents worried about their ability to get the nutrition their babies need and leading some retailers to limit how much formula customers can buy in one transaction. CVS and Walgreens are limiting customers to three formula products, while Target is limiting online transactions to four but hasn’t (yet) imposed an in-person purchase limit. Some Walmart stores have also imposed limits. And parents of multiples are expressing concern that they are often subject to the same purchase limits as parents of single infants.
According to Datasembly, which tracks retail products, the out-of-stock rate for formula was 31% in late April and has since risen to 40%, with some states facing a significantly worse situation.
“This issue has been compounded by supply chain issues, product recalls and historic inflation,” Datasembly CEO Ben Reich said. “Unfortunately, given the unprecedented amount of volatility to the category, we anticipate baby formula to continue to be one of the most affected products in the market.”
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In February, three types of formula manufactured by Abbott Nutrition were recalled and a plant was shut down after four babies were hospitalized and two died. That made an existing shortage much worse.
If you need baby formula, you need baby formula. Children under a year old are not supposed to drink cow milk, babies under six months are not supposed to drink water, and even at six months, babies aren’t supposed to have much water—they should be getting breast milk or formula. Just one in four babies is exclusively breastfed at six months of age. Desperate parents are encountering price-gouging and driving to distant stores in hope of finding formula in stock.
”It's like—it's an every-week scavenger hunt, almost, without the fun involved. It's—you know, online, it'll say it's at Walmart. And then by the time you get there, it's gone. But it's also out of stock online, so,” a South Carolina mother told NPR recently. “I hit the bottom of the can when I'm making a bottle and it's like, you know, (vocalizing) ‘What do I do now?’”
“The unprecedented scope of this infant formula recall has serious consequences for babies and new parents,” Brian Dittmeier, the senior director of public policy at the National WIC Association, said over the weekend. And right now, no one seems to have answers. Manufacturers say they are producing what they can. Limits at stores may help crack down on hoarding, but they may also impose an added burden on parents struggling to keep their kids fed.