OWENSBORO — Stores nationwide have experienced shortages of baby formula in recent months, with many initiating a limit on how many formula packages can be purchased at one time.
The shortage has been widely attributed to a recall of baby formula in mid-February, according to a spokesperson with Mead Johnson Nutrition in Evansville, Indiana, a manufacturing company that produces “Enfamil” baby formula.
The recall was from Abbott, which released an announcement Feb. 17 stating that the company would recall powder formula products manufactured in its facility in Sturgis, Michigan, which include Similac, Alimentum and EleCare.
Stores limiting purchases of baby formula include CVS Pharmacy, Kroger, Target, Walgreens and Walmart.
“We continue to closely monitor the industry-wide supply constraints of baby formula to help ensure product is available for our guests,” said a spokesperson with Target. “We currently have some online product limitations in place.”
CVS and Walgreens, similarly, have announced a limit of three baby formula products per purchase in stores and online.
“Following supplier challenges and increased customer demand, we’ve added a limit,” a spokesperson with CVS said. “We’re continuing to work with our baby formula vendors to address this issue, and we regret any inconvenience this causes our customers.”
Walmart and Kroger did not respond to a request for comment.
The supply shortage has also created challenges for local health departments throughout Kentucky, which supply formula for families who are WIC recipients, according to Merritt Bates-Thomas, public information officer for the Green River District Health Department.
The WIC program, or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, according to the USDA, serves to safeguard the health of low-income pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, including breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to health care.
“It’s been very challenging,” Bates-Thomas said. “Anytime there’s a disruption in what we’re providing, it can create problems for the program participants.”
The health department has not only continued providing formula products for WIC recipients, but has also worked to do package exchanges for those who were in possession of recalled formulas, which has been even more challenging, she said, with a shortage of supply for baby formula products.
Prior to the recall, Bates-Thomas said the percentage of the health department’s WIC recipients receiving formula was at 2.6% district-wide and 3.2% in Daviess County.
Following the recall, those numbers, she said, saw a jump to 14.84% district-wide and 15.61% in Daviess County.
GRDHD has been working since February to do package exchanges and continues to do so now, more than three months later.
“This is just prolonged and it’s ongoing, so it’s really just been a constant for folks trying to work to get those packages changed,” she said. “Package changes and formula approvals have not slowed down and continue to be a large portion of each work day.”
Abbott voluntarily announced the recall, it stated, after four company complaints related to Cronobacter sakazakii or Salmonella Newport in infants who had consumed powder infant formula manufactured in the Sturgis facility.
“We conduct routine testing for Cronobacter sakazakii and other pathogens in our manufacturing facilities,” the company stated in its announcement. “During testing in our Sturgis, Mich., facility, we found evidence of Cronobacter sakazakii in the plant in nonproduct contact areas. We found no evidence of Salmonella Newport. This investigation is ongoing.”
Cronobacter sakazakii is commonly found in the environment and a variety of areas in the home. It can cause fever, poor feeding, excessive crying or low energy, as well as other serious symptoms.
No Abbott liquid formulas, powder formulas, or nutrition products from other facilities are impacted by the recall, according to the company.
On. Feb. 28, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an additional illness with exposure to powdered formula produced at the Sturgis facility.
All five — four Cronobacter infections and one Salmonella Newport infection — illnesses resulted in hospitalization, and Cronobacter may have contributed to the death of two patients, according to the CDC.
Christie Netherton, cnetherton@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7360


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