U.S. recall, supply chain issues, panic buying leave Canadian moms desperate for specialized formula

Mothers of young children in Canada are also frantically searching for hypoallergenic baby formula as a U.S. shortage impacts families of all sorts.

Nikki Cuthbert of London, Ont., has a two-year-old who is allergic to a protein in cow's milk. She said that for the past two months, she's been searching for formula on a daily basis. 

"It's stressful every day," said Cuthbert. "That's his dairy, that's his vitamins and all that. So without that, he gets really sick and I'm going to have to take him to a hospital. I think this needs to be a state of emergency because this is the only way babies and some young children are able to get the protein and vitamins that they need."  

Cuthbert said she's been told the earliest London pharmacies will carry hypoallergenic formula is June 12. Until then, she relies on help from other moms she meets through social media. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a recall in February for powdered formula products from Abbott Nutrition that were produced in a facility in Sturgis, Mich. The agency said the recall was due to risk of bacterial infections like salmonella. 

This has led to a shortage in the United States, with roughly 40 per cent that's normally available absent from the shelves in more than 11,000 stores, according to online retail analyst Datasembly. 

Abbott is one of only a handful of companies that produce the vast majority of the U.S. formula supply, so their recall wiped out a large segment of the market. The company said in a statement that it's flying stock of the formula every day from its FDA-registered facility in Ireland to try to meet demand. 

Raw ingredients shortage part of the issue

The Retail Council of Canada said Canadian parents haven't been as hard hit by the shortage as those in the United States. 

However, when paired with supply chain issues and stockpiling caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Abbott closure has made it more difficult to bring specific formulas to consumers. 

"The issue is that some of the raw ingredients that go into making baby formula — and that's especially for those more specialized formulas for the metabolic and the hypoallergenic for babies who cannot perhaps handle milk and they need a specialized formula — there has been a global shortage for some of the raw ingredients that go into those products," said Michelle Wasylyshen, national spokesperson for the Retail Council of Canada. 

One of the most integral ingredients to formula is sunflower oil. A global shortage of that product, perpetuated by the war in Ukraine, is another contributing factor. 

'This needs to be a state of emergency'

MacKenzie Briley, a London mother of a six-month-old girl with numerous severe allergies, said she had a difficult time finding formula for her older child during pandemic lockdowns.

"But it's nothing compared to now," said Briley. 

"I'd say for about a month and a half now, I've had to go to multiple stores just to even find one can. Right now we're going through about two cans, which usually lasts me anywhere from a week and a half to two weeks." 

She said she had purchased enough from another mother to last for the next three weeks. After that, she's on her own again until shelves are replenished. 

"The pharmacies typically will only fill prescriptions because of the problem that we're having right now, and it's hard to get a prescription for this formula," said Briley. 

"We have no other options. Once we're out, we're out. And if we can't find it, then there's a serious problem not only for us, but also for our children who can't have anything else." 

Wasylyshen said shortages in Canada should be temporary, and retailers are warning consumers not to panic-buy. 

"Those shelves will be restocked," she said. "The real issue is with those specialized formulas, the hypoallergenic formulas. And so we're seeing panic buying and we hope to put a stop to that because those products are needed by vulnerable families." 

Retailers are also warning parents not to attempt to make their own homemade formula, and consult with their health-care professionals instead.