SLO County families searching for infant formula amid shortage find empty shelves
For weeks, the Citrin family has been scouring pharmacies and grocery stores from Paso Robles to Santa Maria in search of Similac Pro Sensitive.
That’s the only type of baby formula that Larkin, their 4-month-old infant, can digest.
“Between having baby twins and going back to work, the (last) thing I want to do is also have to spend all my time trying to find a can of the right baby formula,” said Larkin’s mother, Amanda Pyle Citrin of Shell Beach.
Larkin and his brother, Bennett, who were born prematurely at 33 weeks, rely on formula for nutrition.
The Citrins are one of many San Luis Obispo County families grappling with a nationwide shortage of infant formula after the leading supplier of this essential product closed down its factory.
Their entire family has rallied to help to track down food for the babies.
Pyle Citrin’s mother-in-law, who lives in Indio, has been driving between stores in the desert, hoping to hit the jackpot. Pyle Citrin’s father lives in the Lake Tahoe area, and is searching the few grocery stores in that community for Similac Pro Sensitive for his grandson.
Between everybody, Pyle Citrin estimates more than 50 hours have been spent searching for the specialty baby formula for Larkin.
But the situation is looking grim. Asher Citrin, Amanda’s husband, told her Friday that the shelves on local stores are emptier than ever before.
“Everybody’s completely on their own,” Pyle Citrin said.
How infant formula recall lead to a nationwide shortage
Similac, a popular brand of formula created by Abbott Nutrition, was among the products voluntarily recalled by the company in February.
Four infants became ill and two died after a bacterial contamination was discovered at Abbot Nutrition’s Michigan factory, according to a news release by Abbott Nutrition.
That factory shut down pending an inspection by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Abbott release said.
The recall and factory closure created a “domino effect” for families that rely on formula, said Jane Boone-Brechwald, the director of San Luis Obispo County Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infant and Children (WIC). It’s a federally-funded program that supports the nutrition needs of income-qualifying families.
“It’s been kind of a spiral,” Boone-Brechwald said. “The impact of the Abbott recall is still ongoing.”
Not all formulas are interchangeable for babies with dietary needs
The recall and formula shortage has created repercussions for all families that depend on formula, but people with special dietary needs have been disproportionately impacted.
There are about 20 specialty formulas that are only produced by Abbott and only at the shuttered Michigan facility, according to a Thursday statement from the White House.
The closing of Abbott’s Michigan factory has serious implications for about 5,000 infants and adults with complex metabolic disorders who rely on the specialty formulas, according to the statement.
For babies such as Larkin and Bennett, who spent their first month in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, finding the right type of formula has been a journey in itself, Pyle Citrin said.
Oftentimes, babies born prematurely take a little longer to develop the gut culture necessary to digest regular formula, she said.
Bennett has been fine with most formulas and currently eats Bobbie, an organic milk powder formula. But many different types of formula failed to work for Larkin, his mom said.
By the time the family identified Similac Pro Sensitive, a lactose-free formula, as the type that worked for him, the February recall happened, Pyle Citrin said.
“I immediately bought the four-can limit that you can get at Ralphs and then have been hunting since then,” she said. “We’ve landed one additional big can and a handful of sample-size cans from our pediatrician’s office.”
Pyle Citrin said she has about a three-week’s supply left until Larkin is out of formula, but it could be up to 10 weeks before the shelves are stocked with the formula he needs.
“Hopefully, he will have grown out of some of the reasons that he needs the Pro Sensitive” by then, Pyle Citrin said of her son. “Maybe we’ll have more options for him.”
Once the FDA authorizes the reopening of the Abbott Nutrition factory, it could take two weeks to be up and running again, according to the company’s news release. That would ease the impacts of the shortage.
However, it could take between six to eight weeks for the baby formulas to be stocked on the shelves, the release said.
Formula recall, shortage affects SLO County families
The SLO County WIC Program, which serves more than 3,900 families locally, has been working with families that use Abbott Nutrition products to ensure they got what they needed.
After the recall was issued, the nutritionists and administrators working at SLO County WIC reached out to families that were receiving the recalled powdered formula made by Abbott Nutrition.
“We contacted them and we made arrangements with each one to make sure they got what they needed,” Boone-Brechwald said.
The recall, coupled with the closure of the Michigan factory, meant that many families with healthy infants who could tolerate other brands of formula switched from Similac to Enfamil, produced by Mead Johnson, Boone-Brechwald said.
SLO County WIC is contracted primarily with Mead Johnson for all their formula, she said.
“What has happened since then is that there’s been now a shortage of Enfamil,” Boone-Brechwald said, “even though it wasn’t a recalled formula.”
WIC staff worked with families who relied on Abbott’s specialty formulas to reach out to their pediatricians to see if Enfamil’s hypoallergenic formula, Nutramigen, could work instead, Boone-Brechwald said.
The WIC program has been particularly careful to ensure that infants with special nutritional needs are getting what they need during this unprecedented recall and shortage, she said.
Pyle Citrin said Larkin tried Nutramigen, but did not tolerate it well. She donated their supply of various specialty formulas that didn’t work for her baby to the SLO Food Bank.
Experts share tips for parents
The level of disruption the Abbott Nutrition recall and closure has created has stunned even the most seasoned child healthcare providers.
“I’ll tell you in 36 years of practice, I have never seen this as a risk to the American pediatric population,” San Luis Obispo pediatrician Dr. Rene Bravo said. “So this is a first.”
Boone-Brechwald said that, in the 27 years she’s been at WIC, she hasn’t seen anything like this before.
“It’s very scary,” she said. “It’s very scary when it comes to our children.”
Both Bravo and Boone-Brechwald told families struggling to find infant formula not to dilute the formula with water to try and stretch supplies.
Diluting the formula could cause unintentional harm to the infant, Bravo said.
“It’s really important that parents follow directions on the formula can for safe preparation,” Boone-Brechwald said.
Experts also urge families to resist building their own infant formulas at home, or switching to cow’s milk before children are 12 months of age, which can also be detrimental to the infant’s health.
“There are safety concerns with that, because infants have very specific nutritional needs and electrolyte needs,” Bravo said.
Local families that are struggling to find powdered formula or are running low have some options.
Out of infant formula in SLO County? Here’s what to do
Bravo said his pediatric office has continued receiving samples from infant formula manufacturers throughout the shortage, which he takes as a good sign.
Families that are struggling to locate or purchase infant formula can call local pediatric offices or WIC facilities to ask for help.
Boone-Brechwald said some WIC families that were supplementing breastmilk with formula have switched back to exclusive breastfeeding. But she added that breastfeeding may not be the best option for all families.
“What we do best at WIC is we meet the families where they’re at,” Boone-Brechwald said. “And we listen to the families and we respect their choice.”
Experts are hopeful that the infant formula shortage will start to get better, rather than worse, in the coming days and weeks.
“At this point, in the recall, I’m hoping that all families have received a resolution and their babies are currently getting the formula that they need,” Boone-Brechwald said.
There has been more infant formula produced in the last four weeks than in the previous four weeks, the White House said in its statement.
Bravo said he has heard of some families purchasing infant formula manufactured in Europe via online distributors such as Amazon, but acknowledges this is an expensive option.
“Here’s hoping that the political structures encourage the FDA to get their act together and open up that formula factory in the Midwest so we can get this stuff going again,” Bravo said.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden outlined a list of solutions his administration is working on to help ease the fallout from the infant formula recall and shortage — including cutting red tape to get infant formula to stores quicker, cracking down on any price gouging by opportunists and increasing the supply of formula through imports.
WIC nutritionists are available to answer questions for local families, regardless of whether or not they are WIC clients, Boone-Brechwald said.
Pyle Citrin said she and many other families have felt abandoned as they turn to extended family and community Facebook groups for help.
“It’s just another data point in how obvious it is that mothers and families are not a priority for our current government, and that we aren’t being supported on so many fronts,” she said. “It’s literally feeding babies, and that that’s not being prioritized over anything else is truly mind-blowing.”
To contact SLO County WIC, call 805-781-5570 or text 888-417-6180 or visit one of the seven locations throughout SLO County to access vital nutritional resources.
Has your family been impacted by the infant formula recall and shortage? Contact health reporter Sara Kassabian at skassabian@thetribunenews.com or 805-781-7849 to share your experience.
This story was originally published May 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "SLO County families searching for infant formula amid shortage find empty shelves."
