Latest Baby Formula Recall Hits as More Americans Struggle to Find Supply Again
Bloomberg
Published Feb 21, 2023 15:02
(Bloomberg) -- Another baby formula recall is chipping away at supply as shortages that spiked last year still plague almost 2 million Americans.
Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc on Monday said it was voluntarily recalling about 145,000 cans of Enfamil Prosobee Simply Plant-Based Infant Formula in light of a potential cross-contamination with bacteria.
The company was acting out of an “abundance of caution,” it said in a press release. The supply of concern was limited to 12.9 oz containers manufactured between August and September of last year. No illnesses or adverse events have been reported and product samples tested negative for the bacteria, according to the company’s statement.
The recall comes after a yearlong scramble by parents and caregivers to find formula for their infants. After Abbott Laboratories issued a recall for powdered formula made at its Sturgis, Michigan, facility last February, shortages spiked spiked to as much at 90% in certain metro areas and 70% nationwide. (The company is facing multiple investigations for the incident.)
Read more: How Deadly Bacteria Spread in a Similac Factory—and Caused the US Formula Shortage
Availability increased after President Joe Biden in May invoked the Defense Production Act to boost production of baby formula, but many still struggle to find product. Nearly two million households with babies under 1 year old said they had difficultly sourcing formula in January, a Census Bureau survey published last month found. That’s up from 1.3 million in September, the first month the Census Bureau asked the question.
Ailen Arreaza, a co-director of the family advocacy group ParentsTogether said the recall was “another blow” to families navigating an increasingly volatile food landscape with price increases on eggs and other staples coinciding with the looming end of enhanced benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
“Parents have enough to worry about without having to determine whether the food they give their babies is safe to eat,” said Arreaza.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
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Written By: Bloomberg
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