A recent article published in The Lancet has shed light on the alarming shortage of commercial milk formula in the United States, a crisis that has been ongoing since February 2022. This dire situation is a direct consequence of the recall of multiple products manufactured by Abbott Nutrition, the nation's leading producer of infant formula, due to bacterial contamination concerns and the temporary closure of their Michigan plant. As of the week ending May 8, 2022, the out-of-stock rate for commercial milk formula skyrocketed to 43%, with more than half of infant formula unavailable in six states.
This Lancet report underscores the tremendous challenges faced by parents in the USA, particularly those with socioeconomically vulnerable backgrounds, as they grapple with feeding their hungry, crying infants during this unprecedented shortage. Abbott Nutrition's critical role as a major supplier of commercial milk formula to low-income households through state benefit programs, such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), has made this crisis a direct threat to the health and survival of some of the nation's most nutritionally vulnerable infants.
Read the full article: Is the US infant formula shortage an avoidable crisis? | The Lancet
