Many shelves are empty, the fault of supply problems, caused by the Covid-19 and accentuated by the recent closure of a manufacturing plant.
Empty shelves, anxious families: the White House assured Thursday, May 12 to take very seriously the shortage of baby milk that the United States is experiencing, and which is turning into a political crisis for President Joe Biden. According to data provider Datasembly, the out-of-stock rate of infant milk formula reached 43% at the end of last week, a situation that has only worsened since the shutdown in February. from a factory of the manufacturer Abbott.
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Accused at worst of indifference, at best of wait-and-see attitude, the White House on Thursday set out a few measures, of limited scope. “It’s a job that’s been going on for months“, justified his spokesperson Jen Psaki, questioned on the reaction time of the American executive. “Our message to parents is: we heard, we want to do everything we can“, she said, pressed with questions on this subject which dominated her daily briefing.
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The Biden administration plans, among other things, to increase imports, while the United States produces 98% of the formula milk it consumes. She also says she is working with the States to ease the administrative constraints weighing on the less fortunate families, who buy infant milk using food stamps. The White House finally indicates that it has asked the federal competition authority to look into the abuses linked to this situation of shortage, in particular the resale of infant milk online at prices much higher than normal.
A 43% out-of-stock rate
Separately, US President Joe Biden has spoken with retail representatives and baby milk producers, conversations described as “productive and encouragingby an administration official, who did not wish to be named. She would not, however, say how long it would take for the situation to improve.
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The Republican opposition, campaigning ahead of the legislative elections in November, has seized on the subject and is pounding the Biden administration. The elected to the House of Representatives Elise Stefanik thus affirmed during a press conference to have contacted the authority concerned, the American drug agency (FDA) in February: “Joe Biden has no plan. (…) When we asked the White House about the shortage, they laughed. It is shameful.»
“Missouri is one of six US states where more than half of baby milk is out of stock“, denounced his colleague Ann Wagner, speaking of young mothers who barter on Facebook to get them. Randy Feenstra, an elected official from Iowa, assured him that, in his region, families “traveled 50, 75, up to 100 miles trying to find some(i.e. from 80 to 160 kilometres).
On February 17, after the deaths of two babies, manufacturer Abbott announced the “voluntary recallin its Michigan milk powder plant, including Similac, used by millions of American families. The investigation cleared the affected milk but production has still not resumed, compounding the shortage already caused by broader supply chain issues and lack of manpower. The situation is particularly critical for babies dependent on special milks, which are only made by Abbott, the White House said. She gives the figure of 5,000 infants in this case, to which are added children and adults suffering from rare metabolic diseases.