Parents Struggle To Find Baby Formula in Tri-state Area Months After Peak of Shortage

Baby Formula Shortage Abbott Empty milk formula shelves

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald Sep 30, 01:09 am

Photo: (Photo : SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images)

Many parents of young children are still struggling to find food for their babies, months after the peak of the baby formula shortage in the United States.

One of those affected parents is Danae Previl-Sobers. CBS2's Nick Caloway talked to her while she was food shopping in Bloomfield, New Jersey. She said she is excited to be expecting her second kid next spring, but there are also fears because of the shortage.

The ongoing baby formula shortage leaves the mom with no lack of nerves, with Previl-Sobers describing the current situation as terrifying. She goes everywhere to find the baby formula she needs, listing Walmart, CVS, and ShopRite as her go-to stores.

Shelves are less bare now compared to the peak of shortage in May

She said the corner stores are out, and it is like she has to start looking early for baby formula now, as she is due May next year.

The same scenario is happening to Mirla Cruceta, who they caught up with up the road in Passaic. She said she sometimes spends weeks looking for the right formula for her baby but usually finds an empty shelf instead. She said in Spanish that she felt very bad because she might not have enough food to give her daughter.

According to experts, the shelves in stores are less bare than they were at the peak of this baby formula shortage back in May, but they are still in crisis. The formula shortage started when the Abbott plant in Sturgis, Michigan, where 40 percent of the nation's formula is made, was shut down due to a recall, according to CNN.

Baby formula shortage will still be a problem in the final quarter of 2022

Rudolf Leuschner, an associate professor of supply chain management at Rutgers Business School, likened the Michigan plant shutdown to draining 40 percent of the water from a river.

He said it came back online, and they are producing again, but you have to start filling up that river with water. He added that it would not be like everybody is happy and can find everything because they have started producing again. He made it clear that it would take just as long as it took to wind down, if not longer.

The professor predicts a slow and painful recovery from this baby formula shortage, saying that it could take several more months to return to normalcy on the formula aisle here in the U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledged that its response to the formula shortage was delayed last week. An internal review of how the FDA handled the formula crisis cited outdated information technology and a lack of training as two of the 15 reasons behind the critical shortage, according to NPR.