The baby formula crisis has worsened as 30 percent of all brands are now out of stock. Parents struggling to find their food for their babies say Biden could have done more to mend the supply chain.
Arizona and Wyoming are suffering the worst of the shortage as up to 44 percent of supplies in the two states are unavailable.
The crisis has been an on-going fiasco and was only amplified when the largest formula production facility in Michigan was forced to close last month due to flash-flooding.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, labor shortages and supply chain issues caused a nationwide shortage of most major formula brands. Since then, the supply chain has struggled to catch up with demand.
While Biden and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented policies which made it easier for companies to import the product from abroad, so far it seems to have made little difference.
In June, Abbott, a major baby formula brand, announced it would be importing over a million pounds worth of powdered formula from its sister factory in Spain.
The French-based brand, Danone said it would be shipping in 750,000 Aptamil baby formula packages from Europe this week. It already has 550,000 cans ordered from New Zealand which will likely arrive at American stores at some time in August.
But some distressed parents say that Biden should be doing more to rectify the problem which has been on-going for months on end.
Amber Bergeson from Louisiana is struggling to get the products she needs for her twins Sky and Storm who were born 4 weeks premature.
She says she feels that politicians “just forgot” about the issue before adding she is “sure these politician’s babies eat”.
According to the Biden administration, its Operation Fly Formula has managed to import around 61 million bottles of formula to the US so far, but with only about 802,446 bottles arriving in each individual shipment, the numbers are not nearly enough to satisfy consumer demand.
“We were put in a position that no mothers should be put in,” Bergeson told Fox.
“We feel helpless. We feel like, as a community, we are trying to take care of this instead of [the right people] stepping in.
“People are not paying attention to what’s really going on here and the severity of it, but it’s still happening. It’s like they just forgot.”
Bergeson was unable to find the correct brand for her premature babies because it was out of stock. She was forced to start giving her twins a formula that was not suitable for their needs.
She explained on Facebook that she had to start buying the specialized formula from another mom who had spare bottles.
“Formula is not something that should be gone without and the fact that we have had problems feeding our babies and it’s going on nationally, that’s ridiculous,” she wrote.
“That’s disgusting to me because I’m sure these politicians’ babies eat. I’m sure they find a way.”
Meanwhile, Biden admitted last month that he had been unaware of how serious the shortage was. During a joint meeting between Biden and baby formula manufacturer, Rickitt, the company’s vice president said: “we knew from the very beginning that this would be a very serious event”.
Biden responded by saying: “They did, I didn’t”.
This story syndicated with permission from Jo Marney, Author at Trending Politics
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