Posted on 05/11/2022 8:51:59 PM PDT by blam
With 43% of baby formula out of stock across the country due to supply disruptions at the nation’s largest plant, images of empty shelves and desperate mothers have been flooding social media.
Photo: Fox News
But don’t try to take matters into your own hands, moms. According to the New York Times, pediatricians “strongly advise” against trying to make baby formula at home.
Some are rationing food or driving to stores hours away only to find empty shelves. Others are heading online to look up homemade baby formula recipes that use anything from powdered goat’s milk to raw cow’s milk.
But pediatricians warn that do-it-yourself baby formulas carry significant health risks. -NYT
“Homemade formula is dangerous for babies,” said Dr. Katie Lockwood, an attending physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Primary Care. “Regular formula is F.D.A.-regulated and held to very high standards, the same way we treat medications. Making it at home is a lot riskier.“
Steven Abrams, spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, said “The nutrients in homemade formulas are inadequate in terms of the critical components babies need, especially protein and minerals.”
Home brew baby formula can also contain “an excess of materials or nutrients, like salt, which a baby’s developing kidneys or liver may be unable to break down.”
What’s more, babies can suffer from “water intoxication,” – where the “baby might get too much water” if the balance of nutrients and liquids are off, according to Dr. Suzette Oyeku, chief of academic general pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, in New York City.
What’s their solution? Call your doctor! Go to a charity! Use cow milk in a pinch!
“The first call any parent or caregiver struggling to track down baby formula should make is to their child’s pediatrician. They may have formula samples on hand, or be able to help connect you with local charities or breast milk banks that can help.”
In a pinch, babies over six months — with no known allergies — can have pasteurized whole-milk cow’s milk for a brief period of time until parents are able to find formula. While not ideal in large part because it does not provide sufficient iron, it’s preferable to offering them homemade formula or diluting store-bought formula with water, Dr. Abrams said.
The Abbott Laboratories baby formula plant in Sturgis, Michigan was shuttered by the FDA nearly three months ago after receiving four reports of infants who were hospitalized with bacterial infections after consuming the formula from the facility – two of whom died.
The company reportedly failed to repair aging drying machines.
So, the origin of the baby formula pocalypse was Abbott management’s refusal to repair dilapidated and failure-prone drying machines turning the plant into proverbial petri dishes for cronobacter, because…
They needed that $5.73 billion for stock buybacks, obvs pic.twitter.com/GBmn3n4SWn
— moe tkacik (@moetkacik) May 11, 2022
According to NBC Boston, the FDA announced on Tuesday that it would allow ‘some’ products from the shuttered Abbott facility to be released on a “case-by-case” basis.
Now, the FDA is saying it will not object “to Abbott Nutrition releasing product to individuals needing urgent, life-sustaining supplies of certain specialty and metabolic formulas on a case-by-case basis.”
Abbott, meanwhile, says it will take at least two months before baby formula from the plant can return to store shelves.
“We understand the situation is urgent – getting Sturgis up and running will help alleviate this shortage,” the company said in a Wednesday statement.
“Subject to [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] approval, we could restart the site within two weeks,” the statement continues “We would begin production of EleCare, Alimentum and metabolic formulas first and then begin production of Similac and other formulas. From the time we restart the site, it will take six to eight weeks before product is available on shelves.”
One has to wonder…
Why hasn’t @JoeBiden used the Defense Production Act to order the production of baby formula?
Why haven’t our journalists, who insisted that Trump invoke the Act during the pandemic (necessary or not), demanded Biden do so?
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) May 12, 2022
I think you’re safe buying things from authentic, original companies - though you may still encounter expiration/mill date issues, and you should have those clarified before purchase.
I wouldn’t buy food or medicines from a 3rd-party seller (’Marketplace’).
Such BS! My Mom Raised y kids on homemade formula!
Some women cannot breastfeed to adequately feed the baby. Homemade formula works great for this.
I can’t speak to shelf stocks myself, but my read is that the shortages are regional and inconsistent.
The linked article outlines somewhat of the manufactured crisis they created and - if the scuttlebutt on DHS buying up formula for distribution at the border is true - it dovetails nicely with the Disinformation Bureau’s efforts at distraction (it’s true purpose, imho, at least for now until it gets a juicy budget infusion).
This smacks of the Ivermectin crap.
I tried to breastfeed as long as I could. Milk wasn’t strong enough...but both babies got colostrum. I had to switch to bottle.
Sorry to hear that. Are there other online sources?
I don’t know what these doctors think the mothers should do when there is no formula available, let their child starve?
6 kids all raised on homemade Carnation evaporated milk and Karo syrup formula. I prepared my siblings bottles when my Mom had to work.
Yes it does mirror the ivermectin info shut down.
Hmm.
This is News You Can’t Use from the gaslight media. Do they try to tell you how to make passable formula in light of the shortage? No! “Don’t try to make it!” Rather than being helpful.
It’s what they do.
Decades ago, formula manufacturers were caught pushing their formula in third world countries encouraging women to use formula, often mixed with poor quality water.
This is about profits for formula manufacturers. Doctors take their cut. Follow the money.
Eh we’ve occasionally found some in stock at the local stores, and I usually buy stuff a bag/box or two ahead for anything we use consistently (formula, dog food, milk, OJ, etc), so we’re not really hurting much, just running off the last container sometimes instead of having an extra in stock.
Kiddo’s at six months though, so he’s getting more cereal/baby food, so formula usage is slowly dropping. Finished off the tiddy juice stores a couple weeks ago, so that hurt :/ Wife quit maybe two months ago cause she got mastitis a couple times, and she only had half the freezer full, so that only lasted until ~5 1/2 months.
Some of us old fogies should remember the days of evaporated milk and karo syrup. Nothing worse than the smell of evaporated milk spit up by the baby. Remarkable the millions of babies brought up on that recipe before today’s 30 dollar a can formula.
You know... what people did before gigantic companies told you to buy their stuff?
The media, worried that Roe V. Wade may make getting abortions a bit more difficult, now are advising that you starve them to death instead.
There is a hell of a lot of money to be made in the murder of infants. And those making it, as those getting the blood money and graft money in Ukraine. To Wit Politicians of both Political Parties are not about to give either one up without a heck of a fight.
Condensed milk and Karo syrup works,baby food too baby oatmeal too, I have one of my baby Dr’s list of how to make formula for me from 67yrs ago.
So does starving.
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