Families Still Struggle to Find Baby Formula Nearly One Year After Shortages Began

The survey offers one of the most detailed views yet into the nationwide formula shortage, and comes as lawmakers are taking steps to address ongoing supply issues.

The census findings came from its Household Pulse Survey, launched in 2020 to assess how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected people’s lives and livelihoods. The challenges were most acute for lower-income families, according to the survey, which had responses from nearly 51,000 households between Sept. 14 and Sept. 26.

On average, 40% of adults with household incomes less than $75,000 reported difficulty finding formula the previous week, twice the rate of those whose household incomes topped $75,000.

Parents and caregivers have been scouring stores and websites to find baby formula this year after a February recall by

Abbott Laboratories,

ABT 1.95%

one of two top U.S. formula makers, compounded ongoing supply-chain problems.

For Meadow Burkhart, the hunt for formula begins when her 5-month-old son is on his last two cans of Similac Soy baby formula. At that point, the single mother in New Port Richey, Fla., starts calling around to see where she can buy more, not wanting to waste gas driving to stores where it is sold out.

If she can’t find the formula nearby, Ms. Burkhart searches Facebook groups where hard-to-find formulas are sold, but like many others she has been the victim of online scammers who take her money but never deliver the goods.

“I really don’t recommend it, but I have no other choice at the moment,” said Ms. Burkhart, who works in fast food. “I don’t ever want to get caught without his formula.”

The pandemic caused disruptions in formula supplies beginning in 2020. Nationwide out-of-stock levels for powdered formula increased during 2021, reaching 10% in November, according to market-research firm IRI. The firm said that typically out-of-stock rates for food and other merchandise are at 5% and that outages above 10% are considered a problem.

Out-of-stock levels worsened significantly last spring and peaked at 30% in July before declining, IRI data show. About 18% of powdered baby formula was out of stock in the month ended Sept. 30, according to the firm’s data.

Some small formula makers say government support for startups could help improve supplies. They are looking to Congress to create incentives that would help them offset the risk and expense of building highly specialized new manufacturing plants to expand their capacity.

“We’re getting out of the shortage, but the crisis still lingers,” said Laura Modi, chief executive of formula startup Bobbie. She noted that the company is currently assessing whether to build its own manufacturing facility.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said she plans to introduce legislation next month aimed at addressing the roots of the supply shortage and fostering the growth of smaller domestic manufacturers, but she declined to give specific details.

“For me the underlying piece of all of this is market consolidation,” she said.

Some top Republicans have threatened to hold up future funding for the Food and Drug Administration unless the agency provides more explanation for its missteps during the formula shortage, calling a recent internal review inadequate.

“I cannot support rewarding FDA with additional resources after a failure of this magnitude, especially when this report demonstrates that the agency does not take accountability seriously,” Sen.

Richard Burr

(R., N.C.), the top Republican on the Senate health committee, wrote in a letter this month.

Last month, the FDA said it would continue to allow formula imported from other countries to be sold in the U.S. on a long-term basis, so long as its manufacturers are working to meet all U.S. regulatory guidelines by the fall of 2025, including around specific nutrition requirements and labeling.

“That’s a huge shift from an industry that before this crisis, 98% of the formula purchased in the country was manufactured domestically,” said Brian Dittmeier, senior director of public policy for the National WIC Association. The group represents providers of the Women, Infants and Children supplemental nutrition program, a federal program that provides formula at no cost to families.

Mr. Dittmeier said formula supplies overall have improved significantly since the worst of the shortages earlier this year and were back to normal in many areas. However, some places are still experiencing problems, including from families overbuying and hoarding formula, he said.

Kendamil, a British formula maker owned by Kendal Nutricare, is one company seeking to help crack open the U.S. formula market.

Kendamil started working to gain access to the U.S. in 2017, just two years after the brand was launched, according to William and Dylan McMahon, who co-founded the company with their father, Ross McMahon. Kendamil fast-tracked its efforts earlier this year in light of the shortage, the McMahon brothers said, securing permission from the FDA to ship formula to the U.S. in May and flying in more than one million formula cans to date via a White House effort dubbed Operation Fly Formula.

Now, the company is working to finalize FDA requirements for longer term distribution in the U.S., such as completing clinical trials tied to growth studies, according to the McMahons. Kendamil is investing $30 million to at least double its production capacity next year, with plans to be able to supply the U.S. market with one billion bottle feeds a year by 2025, the McMahons said.

—Paul Overberg contributed to this article.

Write to Jesse Newman at [email protected] and Kristina Peterson at [email protected]

The survey offers one of the most detailed views yet into the nationwide formula shortage, and comes as lawmakers are taking steps to address ongoing supply issues.

The census findings came from its Household Pulse Survey, launched in 2020 to assess how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected people’s lives and livelihoods. The challenges were most acute for lower-income families, according to the survey, which had responses from nearly 51,000 households between Sept. 14 and Sept. 26.

On average, 40% of adults with household incomes less than $75,000 reported difficulty finding formula the previous week, twice the rate of those whose household incomes topped $75,000.

Parents and caregivers have been scouring stores and websites to find baby formula this year after a February recall by

Abbott Laboratories,

ABT 1.95%

one of two top U.S. formula makers, compounded ongoing supply-chain problems.

For Meadow Burkhart, the hunt for formula begins when her 5-month-old son is on his last two cans of Similac Soy baby formula. At that point, the single mother in New Port Richey, Fla., starts calling around to see where she can buy more, not wanting to waste gas driving to stores where it is sold out.

If she can’t find the formula nearby, Ms. Burkhart searches Facebook groups where hard-to-find formulas are sold, but like many others she has been the victim of online scammers who take her money but never deliver the goods.

“I really don’t recommend it, but I have no other choice at the moment,” said Ms. Burkhart, who works in fast food. “I don’t ever want to get caught without his formula.”

The pandemic caused disruptions in formula supplies beginning in 2020. Nationwide out-of-stock levels for powdered formula increased during 2021, reaching 10% in November, according to market-research firm IRI. The firm said that typically out-of-stock rates for food and other merchandise are at 5% and that outages above 10% are considered a problem.

Out-of-stock levels worsened significantly last spring and peaked at 30% in July before declining, IRI data show. About 18% of powdered baby formula was out of stock in the month ended Sept. 30, according to the firm’s data.

Some small formula makers say government support for startups could help improve supplies. They are looking to Congress to create incentives that would help them offset the risk and expense of building highly specialized new manufacturing plants to expand their capacity.

“We’re getting out of the shortage, but the crisis still lingers,” said Laura Modi, chief executive of formula startup Bobbie. She noted that the company is currently assessing whether to build its own manufacturing facility.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said she plans to introduce legislation next month aimed at addressing the roots of the supply shortage and fostering the growth of smaller domestic manufacturers, but she declined to give specific details.

“For me the underlying piece of all of this is market consolidation,” she said.

Some top Republicans have threatened to hold up future funding for the Food and Drug Administration unless the agency provides more explanation for its missteps during the formula shortage, calling a recent internal review inadequate.

“I cannot support rewarding FDA with additional resources after a failure of this magnitude, especially when this report demonstrates that the agency does not take accountability seriously,” Sen.

Richard Burr

(R., N.C.), the top Republican on the Senate health committee, wrote in a letter this month.

Last month, the FDA said it would continue to allow formula imported from other countries to be sold in the U.S. on a long-term basis, so long as its manufacturers are working to meet all U.S. regulatory guidelines by the fall of 2025, including around specific nutrition requirements and labeling.

“That’s a huge shift from an industry that before this crisis, 98% of the formula purchased in the country was manufactured domestically,” said Brian Dittmeier, senior director of public policy for the National WIC Association. The group represents providers of the Women, Infants and Children supplemental nutrition program, a federal program that provides formula at no cost to families.

Mr. Dittmeier said formula supplies overall have improved significantly since the worst of the shortages earlier this year and were back to normal in many areas. However, some places are still experiencing problems, including from families overbuying and hoarding formula, he said.

Kendamil, a British formula maker owned by Kendal Nutricare, is one company seeking to help crack open the U.S. formula market.

Kendamil started working to gain access to the U.S. in 2017, just two years after the brand was launched, according to William and Dylan McMahon, who co-founded the company with their father, Ross McMahon. Kendamil fast-tracked its efforts earlier this year in light of the shortage, the McMahon brothers said, securing permission from the FDA to ship formula to the U.S. in May and flying in more than one million formula cans to date via a White House effort dubbed Operation Fly Formula.

Now, the company is working to finalize FDA requirements for longer term distribution in the U.S., such as completing clinical trials tied to growth studies, according to the McMahons. Kendamil is investing $30 million to at least double its production capacity next year, with plans to be able to supply the U.S. market with one billion bottle feeds a year by 2025, the McMahons said.

—Paul Overberg contributed to this article.

Write to Jesse Newman at [email protected] and Kristina Peterson at [email protected]