Why Is There a Baby Formula Shortage, and What’s Being Done About It?

Over 40% of baby formula products were out of stock at U.S. retailers in early May, on average. How did this happen, and what’s being done about it?

The shortage stemmed from broad supply chain disruptions and the closure of a major formula production plant. Top formula producer Abbott Laboratories shut down its Sturgis, Mich. factory in February after at least two infants died of bacterial infections linked to the plant. Abbott denied any link to the infections, but the factory had still not been reopened by mid-May. 

The formula shortage was quickly politicized, especially after Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) released photos of a migrant processing facility stocked with several boxes of formula. Meanwhile, Abbott began shipping formula to the U.S. from Ireland, and the company said Friday that it could reopen the Sturgis plant “within two weeks” if the FDA gave its approval. While FDA officials said they were “doing everything in our power” to resolve the crisis, bipartisan criticism of the shortage led the House Oversight committee to launch an investigation. 

Coverage across the spectrum attributed the shortage primarily to the Abbott factory shutdown. Right-rated outlets tended to focus more on the migrant processing facility formula; Fox News (Right bias) prominently tweeted a quote asking, “Why are we feeding illegal babies ahead of American babies?” Coverage from the left tended to criticize the right’s purported “faux outrage” over feeding migrants’ babies.