Friday 22 July 2022 05:39 PM America's baby formula shame as shelves remain bare six months after Abbott ... trends now

America's baby formula shortage dominated headlines earlier this year when the Abbott plant, the country's largest manufacturer, suddenly shut down amid fears over contamination. 

There was round-the-clock coverage of the crisis and promises from the Biden administration that all red-tape would be slashed in order to feed babies and calm mothers' fears. 

But nearly six months later, the infant care shelves in drugstores around the US remain bare and this week, the shortage reached a new low with 28.5 percent of products now completely out of stock.  

Biden's solution has been to fly in foreign formula to try to plug the gap, but the 802,446 bottles that arrive per shipment barely line the stomachs of the 3million babies born every year.

In the last six months, the White House has flown in 60million bottles in total - enough to feed America's babies for just one week.

Now, DailyMail.com reveals the desperate measures mothers are taking to ensure their infants don't go hungry,  the impossible choices some are now facing and the oh-so-slow steps taken by the White House to ease the problem.

Biden's failed attempt to ease the crisis by flying in foreign formula 

On February 17, Abbott, the largest formula manufacturer in the country, announced an urgent recall for its Similac products amid fears that a harmful bacteria found at its plant in Sturgis, Michigan, had made its way into products.  

Not only did it stop the plant from producing formula for weeks, but it also rendered much of the formula that had already been sold inedible. Suddenly, mothers had to throw out their stockpiles and hunt for more. 

In another sector, the result might not have been as catastrophic. But Abbott produces around 40 percent of all of the baby formula in the US. And 40 percent of that 40 percent was produced in the shut-down plant - taking a huge chunk out of the market in one fell swoop. 

Mothers immediately panicked in February when the Abbott plant closed and soon after, stores including Target and CVS began limiting the amount of formula one shopper can buy to three per person. 

The White House took longer to sense the urgency. 

It wasn't until May that President Biden met with industry leaders in the Oval Office to discuss a logistical solution. 

In June, the White House launched Operation Fly Formula, bringing overseas formula to hard-hit pockets of the country. 

The Biden administration has touted the mission as a success. But to date, only 53 flights have arrive bringing enough formula for 60million bottles - enough to meet the demand of just one week. 

'The typical demand for baby formula is about 4 million lbs. each week which translates to approximately 60 million 8-ounce bottles,' Ram Ganesham, Professor of Operations & Supply Chain at Raymond A. Mason School of Business in Virginia, told DailyMail.com. 

First, a flight from Zurich brought 1.5 million 8-ounce bottles of three formulas—Alfamino Infant, Alfamino Junior, and Gerber Good Start Extensive HA, from Zurich to Plainfield, Indiana. 

Over the coming weeks, planes arrived from Germany, Australia and London. 

More are planned for this week, but formula stock remains low. 

New data reveals the hardest-hit state to be Arkansas, where nearly half of the ordinary stock level has been depleted. 

Montana, Minnesota, Michigan, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado are now all 30 percent out of stock - or more - according to the data compiled by IRI analysis. 

Nationally, formula stock has dropped from being 85 percent in stock in February to less than 70 percent now. 

But until they filter through to stores around the country, mothers are taking matters into their own hands.  

I'm using my sister-in-law's donated breastmilk because COVID stopped me from producing my own 

Gina Timulo, 31, is a stay-at-home mother from Toms River, New Jersey, with an 19-month-old, Eliana, and a six-month-old. Valentina. Her partner Ralfy is an HVAC technician.

She has been struggling to find formula for months because their six-month-old has a milk allergy and recently had to ask her sister-in-law to donate some of her breastmilk.

Gina breastfed Valentina herself for the first six weeks of the infant's life, until the family learned she was allergic to milk. She then switched to a dairy-free diet to feed her, but had to stop when the whole family was struck with COVID.

'I wasn't able to keep up with her demand...we started supplementing with formula in addition to breast milk I think between stress and sickness my supply dwindled and I was barely producing anything.

'We made the full switch to powder Alimentum for Valentina’s health.'

In February, around the time she turned six months old, the Abbott plant in Sturgis, Michigan, suddenly halted production over a recall of its products. 

Suddenly, mothers who could find alternatives in stores began to stockpile, and others who didn't act quickly enough were left with empty pantries.

'The ready-to-feed Alimentum was our only hope which, as you can imagine, quickly was out of stock all over because lots of families were in similar dispositions.

'I was able to find it for a few weeks. But once again we are having a lot of difficulty locating any.'

For her family, help came from her kind sister-in-law who has a 10-month-old son. She happened to be on a dairy free diet herself, and agreed to donate breast milk to feed her niece.

'My sister in law donated us quite a good amount, and I can’t thank her enough.'

She is not optimistic about the situation changing soon.

'It’s been a wild ride and I’m not seeing a light at the end of this tunnel soon. I’m glad you are keeping this story alive as it seems all other news outlets and media have just moved on.

'But it’s still a very real and very terrifying issue that many many many families are still facing everyday,' she said.

I smuggled formula in from Colombia because I couldn't find it in New Jersey 

Christine Giller, 32, is a new mom to her six-month-old son Julian, who like most infants, needs a specific kind of baby formula. 

When Julian was born, Giller and her fiancé Will experimented with several different kinds because their son had gas issues.

After a few months of trial and error, they found Enfamil Neuropro Gentlease relieved Julian’s stomach issues. 

The issue was finally behind them until Giller noticed it started to become harder and harder to find Gentlease, until it was impossible.

Eventually, she took her search out of the

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