We can only know so much about so many different topics. Baby milk substitute product, usually referred to as formula, is something I have little to no expertise in. With that in mind, feel free to completely ignore everything I write here, because I honestly have little clue.
America’s baby-formula shortage has gone from curious inconvenience to full-blown national crisis.
In many states, including Texas and Tennessee, more than half of formula is sold out in stores. Nationwide, 40 percent of formula is out of stock—a twentyfold increase since the first half of 2021. As parents have started to stockpile formula, retailers such as Walgreens, CVS, and Target have all moved to limit purchases.
The everything shortage isn’t new. But rationing essentials for desperate parents? That’s a twisted turn in the story of American scarcity.
There are plenty of things that are scarce right now, mostly due to Covid-19 restrictions, maybe with the Russia-Ukraine war, and sanctions on Russia, as a secondary disruption. However, something appears to have affected the soy-laden formula product particularly hard.
Three factors are driving the U.S. baby-formula shortage: bacteria, a virus, and a trade policy.
The Atlantic wants to hide this from you, but reports on the ground say that antifa types have been hijacking formula laden trucks in a desperate bid for their daily soy dosage.
Finally, the third factor: America’s regulatory and trade policy. And while that might not sound as interesting to most people as bacteria and viruses, it might be the most important part of the story.
More seriously, the first two factors they mentioned were bacterial contamination leading to a recall for some products, coupled with people hoarding formula in 2020, and working through their stored supplies in 2021. The latter supposedly led to formula underproduction for 2022. I don’t know how accurate that is.
FDA regulation of formula is so stringent that most of the stuff that comes out of Europe is illegal to buy here due to technicalities like labeling requirements. Nevertheless, one study found that many European formulas meet the FDA nutritional guidelines—and, in some ways, might even be better than American formula, because the European Union bans certain sugars, such as corn syrup, and requires formulas to have a higher share of lactose.
Maybe this weirdo has something to do with this.
But maybe not. To steal a take from a certain frog friend of ours.
Seriously though, virtually every brand of infant formula sold in the U.S. is loaded with soy. Outside of the U.S., almost none of them are. It’s why this is one of the few shortages they’re actually committing a meaningful effort to resolve quickly. – Jazzhands McFeels
There’s some weird stuff going on with that. But, like I said, I got no idea. Just thought I needed to cover this. Although with the Colon Report, I think this site will transition away from random news articles in the future.
