Infant Formula Shortage
Dear Friend,
It's been many years now since my boys were infants, but I remember what it’s like to worry about making sure they are healthy and fed. I can only imagine the impact the nationwide infant formula shortage is having on New Mexico’s families right now. We know these shortages are the result of Abbott Nutrition’s voluntary recall of certain powdered infant formulas and the closure of a major facility in Michigan that produced a large amount of the nation’s supply of specialty formula. What we do to solve these shortages is critical.
In recent weeks, I have welcomed President Biden’s urgent actions to coordinate with manufacturers and retailers to make sure shelves are stocked with safe, affordable, and FDA-approved infant formula products. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently launched a new webpage to provide parents with resources to help find places where they can obtain formula, including retail businesses, food banks, accredited human milk banks, and health care providers.
If your child needs specific metabolic formulas due to an inherited metabolic disorder, Abbott, Gerber, and Reckitt have developed urgent product request lines in order to get those products to you as quickly as possible. If you are eligible for or enrolled in Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), you can contact your local WIC office to identify or obtain additional sources of infant formula nearby.
Public health officials emphasize that for most infants, it is safe to use a different brand of formula than the one you are used to. It may take a feeding or two to adjust to a new formula, but you can be confident that any available formulas on the shelf are safe for your baby. You should never water down formula, make your own at home, or feed infants with toddler formula.
If you have questions about your infant's formula needs, I encourage you to contact your pediatrician or a trusted medical provider in your community.
Sincerely,
MARTIN HEINRICH
United States Senator
