Nationwide baby formula shortage is concern for local parents of infants

A nationwide baby formula shortage is leaving South Dakota mothers panicked over how they will feed their children, and Brandon is no exception. 

One of the leading companies for infant formula production in the United States, Abbott Nutrition shut down its factories in February due to contamination and voluntarily recalled dozens of formula types, including Similac Advance. After the shutdown, the rate of out-of-stock formula has steadily increased over the past few months.

“Now we have to go on this hunt again to like six different stores before I’d start feeling the sense of hopelessness that I wasn’t gonna find food for my baby,” said BreAnn Morris, a Brandon mom with a 7-month-old baby. 

According to a Datasembly report, South Dakota’s out-of-stock percentage is 45.8 percent as of May 8. The highest spike in the shortage for the state was between April 17 and April 24 when it jumped from 36.5 percent to 50.4 percent in a single week. Currently, the national average for the shortage is 44.6 percent. 

As of May 18, Brandon only had one 12-ounce container of Similac Advance infant formula available in the entire town, which was located at Sunshine Foods. 

Jesse Peterson, Brandon’s Sunshine Foods assistant store director, said they usually receive around three cases of six containers of formula a week– if the shipment come in. 

“We’ll go a good two or three weeks where we can get one case a truck, then all of a sudden, two weeks of nothing,” Peterson said. 

Peterson said he hasn’t seen anyone panic buying or hoarding formula and the Brandon Sunshine Foods has no plans to implement a purchasing limit for customers. 

“Most people that come in will just buy a couple,” he said. “I haven’t had anybody come in where they just want the whole case. I think they’re pretty understanding.”

Joslynn Hillestad, a mom in Brandon, said she was planning on transferring her soon-to-be 6-month-old from breast milk to formula, but now that may not be an option.

“It’s a difficult decision to make because once I stop, there’s no getting my milk supply back,” she said. “It most definitely raises concerns for what’s happening in America right now as well as what I am to do as a mother being put in this situation.”

Dr. Linné Curtis Bayt, a pediatrician at the Sanford Family Medicine and Children’s Clinic in Brandon, offered some options for families who are struggling to find formula. She said switching formula brands or using generic brand formulas are safe and encouraged if the baby’s main formula is out of stock. 

“If they’re on a standard, cow’s milk formula and they’re using, for example, Similac, you can use Enfamil, you can use the Target brand, you can use the Costco brand as long as it’s an equivalent formula,” she said.

Curtis Bayt advises against buying formula overseas or from online stores like Craigslist or eBay as their regulations differ from the United States. She also said to avoid giving babies formula alternatives like cow’s milk, soy, almond or oat milk until they are at least 12 months old, as it doesn’t have the same nutritional value as formula or breast milk does. She also discourages people from making their own formula at home or diluting formula to make it last longer. 

“Babies can end up with electrolyte abnormalities, they can end up in the emergency room or in the hospital because they can become very sick,” Curtis Bayt said in regards to formula alternatives. 

If a mom cannot find formula and wishes to return to breastfeeding, Curtis Bayt said Sanford has lactation specialists who can help.

“Say the baby’s two months old and mom maybe stopped breastfeeding three weeks ago, her milk is still there and just needs to be stimulated,” she said. “They just call, make an appointment and then the lactation specialist can help with that.” 

According to a May 13 Abbott Nutrition press release, the company reached an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to restart its production at their Sturgis, Mich., facility. 

The Biden Administration has also made efforts to combat the shortage. On May 18, President Joe Biden announced that the White House would be invoking the Defense Production Act to deploy aircraft and speed up formula shipments from overseas. 

This announcement came only hours before the House approved an emergency $28 million allocation to the FDA, a move, which they hope, will help to alleviate the current formula shortfall.

South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson voted against the bill, stating that alternative solutions can be made instead.

“The FDA doesn’t need more funding, they need a plan,” Johnson tweeted on Thursday. “There are alternative solutions: temporarily increase imports from other countries with safety standards just as high – if not higher – than our own.”

Until those alternative solutions come to fruition, Curtis Bayt recommends checking your local family pediatrician’s clinic for formula.

“We have formula here, we have not yet had to turn anybody away,” Curtis Bayt said. “We have been able to accommodate everybody and I think most pediatrician clinics can say the same thing. We should be their first call. If they really can’t find formula, call their pediatrician’s office and we will help them out.”