the shortage of baby formula has
grown into a major challenge for
parents all around the country.
Today, president Biden defended
the administration's response,
saying his team responded as
soon as it understood the
problem.
Although it began months ago.
When pressed on whether he could
have acted more quickly, the
president said, "If we had in
better mind readers, I guess we
could have."
We look at the latest, what the
administration is doing and how
parents are coping.
Reporter: Judy, 40% of formula
is out of stock in stores
nationwide, a 20-fold increase
since this time last year.
Supply chain disruptions,
inflation and a recall by one of
the biggest producers have
worsened the shortage.
Parents are struggling.
Here's some of what they told
us.
>> The baby formula shortage
came to my attention a few
months ago when there was a big
recall for a lot of formula
products we use for our no
seven-month-old.
We switch to a formula that was
really common, which made it
easy to find online, virtually
any store we went to.
Today with the shortage, it has
become really competitive.
>> I feel like the shortage has
been heightened.
We are here in Puerto Rico, so
not only do we have the shortage
is on the shelves but also the
transit times for new formula to
arrive on the island has been
extended.
>> I haven't been able to
produce as much milk as he eats
so I've been supplement and with
formula, and the shortage has
greatly impacted our family.
Without it, we would not be able
to feed him properly.
>> My daughter was on the
standard formula you should be
able to find easily in stores
and we were not able to.
It was completely empty shelves.
We ended up taking a financial
hit and signing up for
subscription formula.
>> I'm sending out family and
friends, especially those in
other states, telling them to
keep and I out for the
particular brand we use antitype
we use.
>> Right now we are working on
getting my friend from Canada to
bring down the equivalent of the
formula he takes, which
unfortunately is only one.
>> I've been playing -- paying a
lot more, so on top of the
formula costs, shipping through
the post office because they
treat Puerto Rico like a state,
where is if it is shipped by ups
or FedEx, they treat Puerto Rico
as international shipping.
>> Hopefully for all of us,
formula will be more abundant in
places, especially rural places
where people cannot go to cities
or access supplies on the
internet.
Meantime, there are a lot of mom
groups online you can join and
contact, and people like me have
been posting where we find
certain formulas.
>> Sometimes it seems like we
are not getting support from the
places where we should be
getting it.
Moms are there to help each
other.
That is powerful.
Moms I think keep the world
going.
I think we could solve any
problem.
I think we should be in charge
of the world for a few days and
see how much we get done.
Reporter: The white house
announced three steps yesterday
to address the shortage.
It said it would urge states to
expand the options for parents
receiving federal wic benefits
to buy baby formula.
The president is also asking the
federal trade commission -- or
ftc -- and state attorneys
general to crack down on price
gouging.
And the fda will take new
measures to increase imports in
the future.
Joining me now is Brian
dittmeier, he's the senior
director of public policy for
the national wic association.
Wic serves about half of all
infants born in the united
States.
Brian, thank you for joining us.
We just heard from parents who
are really struggling to access
and afford formula.
What advice do you have?
Brian: We know this is an extra
nearly stressful time for
parents and we keep hearing
stories of parents who have to
go five or six stores before
they find a can of formula.
Some of the advice we have is
around mitigation strategies.
Identifying where in your
community there is a supply.
It could very because this is a
highly localized issue.
It may be the store one day, and
a couple days later it could be
a food bank.
An important piece to also be
mindful of is to avoid risky
infant feeding practices that
could lead to long-term health
consequences for your infant.
Stay away from homemade formula
recipes, do not dilute your
formula and do not introduce
cows milk before year one.
Reporter: The white house has
been under pressure, especially
since recall that trigger the
shortage happened three months
ago already.
Do you think the white house has
done enough?
Brian: I think the white house
has been leading a great effort
from day one of this recall, and
while there are a lot of steps
that have been taken and steps
that will be taken in the next
couple of days, I think one of
the most concerning pieces is
how highly centralized of infant
formula marketplace is.
They are only four companies
that command about 90% of the
domestic infant formula supply.
We need to take a look, a hard
look at this industry and ask
ourselves the question of why
did we let one plant closing for
a food safety issue for a couple
of weeks result in this level of
disruption to the marketplace
and the consumers for an
essential product?
Reporter: As we mentioned, half
of the nations infants receive
wic benefits.
Prior to the shortage,
recipients could only access one
Brenda formula depending on the
state.
I understand some programs have
already taken steps to expand
those options.
What have they done and what
additional effects, if any, will
this announcement white house
put out yesterday have?
Brian: It is a curious question.
Why we allow wic families to
only have access to one brand of
infant formula in the first
place.
We know there are a number of
steps put in place to expand the
brands and container sizes
available to customers.
I think one of the messages
coming out of usda consistently
through the product recall is we
have to take every flexibility
possible to make sure the wic
consumer is treated like any
other member of the shopping
public.
Reporter: Many states have
already expanded eligibility,
they did it shortly after the
recall was announced and
shortages began to manifest
themselves.
Brian: It has been a holistic
effort.
Usda has been working from day
one to enact what flexibilities
exist, but one of the pieces we
recognize as well is the program
was not necessarily built for
this moment.
We also, again, we are really
focused on market consolidation.
I think that is the concerning
factor.
The wic program could use
whatever flexibilities it has,
he could use flexibilities built
into it, but if we don't have a
resilient supply chain moving
forward, we will not be able to
serve the needs of all infants
in this country, but
particularly infants in low
income families.
Reporter: In terms of expanding
access to imports, which the
white house also has said it
wants to do, what options are
there given how stringent U.S.
Regulations are?
Brian: I'm excited to see what
fda announces, but infant
formula has been manufactured
domestically largely because of
rules around product safety.
There is one lesson we've
learned throughout this recall,
we have to put the safety of
this product first.
I think as we explore what
flexibility exists as far as
imports, we need to be mindful
of keeping that guiding
principle of safe but accessible
infant formula for all of the
infants in this country.
Reporter: Brian, thank you for
your time.