From Carolina Public Press: While supplies of baby formula seem to be increasing in North Carolina, many families are still struggling to find enough. The crisis began early during the pandemic in 2020. It worsened in February of this year, when Abbot Nutrition voluntarily recalled some formula after four babies were hospitalized and two died. That led to an U.S. Food and Drug investigation into the potential link between those cases and the formula produced at the company’s Sturgis, Mich., facility.
The Sturgis facility was closed, briefly restarted production June 4 and closed once again June 15 due to flooding. It reopened July 1. Since May 19, the White House has imported enough to make millions of bottles of formula through Operation Fly Formula. Biden also invoked the Defense Production Act to ensure formula producers were prioritized to receive supplies. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services dedicated a page on its website to the formula shortage. Updates from the state are published there, along with information about the WIC supplemental nutrition program and breastfeeding. There are now 80 extra formula options temporarily offered for WIC participants to give families flexibility when stores run low on their normal options, according to Kelly Haight Connor, a communications manager for NCDHHS.
There is no firm date for when those additions will be removed from WIC. According to Connor, the extension is expected to end Sept. 30 or when the national COVID-19 disaster declaration ends, whichever occurs first. While some families can switch brands if their normal formula is unavailable, not all families have that option. “Throughout the shortage, specialty formulas (those that address digestive, allergy or other health issues) have been more difficult to find across the country,” Connor said. “The North Carolina WIC program has worked closely with the WIC staff to source specialty formulas for WIC participants that are unable to locate the products in their retail market. The federal government also focused much of Operation Fly Formula on boosting the supply of these specialty formula products.” PHOTO credit: Lucy Wolski, Unsplash