Retailers across the country have been reporting a baby formula shortage — and it’s not just supply-chain issues.
Abbott Nutrition voluntarily recalled some of its powdered infant formulas in February due to possible bacteria contamination.
The recall directly affects bad batches of Similac, Alimentum and EleCare brand formulas manufactured at Abbott’s Sturgis, Michigan plant, but it also increased demand for other formula brands as parents switched products.
The state Department of Health administers the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC. The program is different from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps and commonly referred to as SNAP.
While SNAP recipients receive a set amount of money to spend on certain foods, WIC offers benefits for certain types and amounts of food items such as milk, bread, beans, cereal and baby formula.
Lorilyn Salamanca, a public health nutritionist with the office, said about half the infants born in Hawaiʻi are on WIC. But the shortage issue impacts all families, not just WIC families.
The office has been helping families find alternatives.
"It's definitely difficult to predict what's going to be on the shelves," Salamanca told The Conversation. "We can talk to our vendors and we have an idea of what stock they have. But it depends on the day customers are going in for their purchasing, so it's hard to really know exactly how much there is."
Only specific brands, products and sizes are eligible to be purchased through WIC. But with the recent shortage, Salamanca said they have been given a list of substitutes that would not normally qualify for WIC.
"When they get to the store, depending on what's on the shelf, they would be able to pick up anything that's on that list," Salamanca said. "There's still a challenge because not all stores source all those different brands. So there's still that kind of shopping around going from store to store to see who has it."
"There are still cases where we're really not able to find certain formulas," she said. "And it's more often with the more specialized formulas — which is scary since those infants or those children tend to have more health issues."
Salamanca said families should talk with their provider about recommended alternative formulas. You should not dilute formula to make it last longer because that puts the baby at risk of malnourishment, she said.
More information about the baby formula recall and WIC can be found at health.hawaii.gov/wic.
This interview aired on The Conversation on April 14, 2022. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
