According to data provider Datasembly, the stock-out rate of infant formula reached 43% at the end of last week in the United States. The American executive plans, among other things, to increase imports, even though the United States produces 98% of the formula milk they consume, he recalls in a press release this Thursday, May 12, without giving any details. details.
The Biden administration also says it is working with states to ease the administrative burden on 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.
Separately, U.S. President Joe Biden held talks with retail representatives and baby milk producers, conversations described as “productive and encouraging” by an administration official, who declined to be named. She would not, however, say how long it would take for the situation to improve.
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,” said colleague Ann Wagner, speaking of young mothers who barter on Facebook to get it. Randy Feenstra, an elected official from Iowa, assured him that, in his area, families “did 50, 75, up to 100 miles to try to find it” (that is, from 80 to 160 kilometers).
On February 17, after the deaths of two babies, manufacturer Abbott announced a “voluntary recall” at its Michigan plant of powdered milks, 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 problems 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.
https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/penurie-de-lait-pour-bebe-joe-biden-somme-d-agir-12-05-2022-2475426_20.php