These are almost empty shelves that Americans, in search of infant milk, have been facing for several weeks.
They are forced to multiply stores to find these precious boxes or, as a last resort, to buy them online at insane prices.
The United States is facing an unprecedented shortage of baby milk, due to a lack of manpower, but above all the closure of one of the main factories in February.
An airlift was even set up by the White House.
Why is the United States in short supply of baby milk?
The use of infant formula in the United States is almost a norm.
Indeed, there is no paid maternity leave as we know it in the country of Uncle Sam. That is to say that when a woman becomes pregnant and then gives birth, she is not paid for the whole how long it is "unavailable".
Families, especially the poorest, therefore have no choice but to buy infant milk for their babies.
According to data from the public health agency, 75% of infants in the United States are fed totally or partially with industrial milk six months after birth.
But for several weeks, it has been difficult for these families to find infant milk on the shelves.
According to data from Datasembly, which conducts trade research, the unavailability rate for these products had reached 43% during the first week of May.
In early April, the same firm had released more precise figures showing that at that time, in Connecticut, Delaware, Montana, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington State, the rate of shortage already exceeded 40% (against 31% nationally during the same period).
VIDEO.
“There are desperate people”: the shortage of baby milk worries the United States
Two factors explain the situation in the United States today.
Since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, factories have been short of workers – many Americans are now refusing certain jobs or wage conditions.
Transport difficulties and the unavailability of raw materials are also slowing down the industry.
The formula crisis escalated in February when industry giant Abott was forced to close its main Michigan plant and issue a mass product recall, after four babies taking the Abott product developed a infection (two died).
The crisis is all the stronger as the infant milk market is highly concentrated.
Four companies control nearly 90% of production, including Abbott, which alone accounts for nearly half of the sector.
Nearly half of baby formula is purchased through the WIC program, intended to help low-income women, infants and children.
Abbott must provide breast milk for about half of the children receiving it.
What are the consequences ?
Infant milk has therefore become rare in the United States.
Several supermarket chains and online sales have decided to limit the number of boxes of infant milk that can be purchased for one person.
"For an entire month, there was nothing... Nothing online, nothing in the stores around," a mother from Jacksonville told local media News4JAX.
No price freeze: these have increased by 18% over the past twelve months, also reports the American media CBS News.
“We called the WIC office.
We called Thrive, which is a supply company.
We called every hospital system in the state.
I personally contacted Kroger, Walgreens, Walmart and CVS (
Editor's note: distributors
)", for her part testified to WTVR the adoptive mother of a 5-month-old child, originally from New Kent, Virginia, looking for a special infant milk to meet the medical needs of her baby.
She had found what she was looking for, but on Ebay at…800 dollars.
“I just went to 8 stores!
EIGHT STORES and I can't find my children's preparation.
It's the scariest thing I've ever experienced!
“had testified at the end of March, on Facebook, another mother.
"It's a nightmare," a mother of two told The New York Times, who had no choice but to buy infant formula on Ebay.
“We are sorry for all the families we have abandoned since our voluntary recall exacerbated the shortage of infant formula in our country,” Abbott Group boss Robert Ford said on Saturday.
How to get out of this situation ?
Abbott claims to have "taken serious steps", such as converting production lines for adult products at one of its factories in Ohio "to give priority to the production" of baby milk.
The group also imports milk from its factory in Ireland.
The Americans could soon see the end of the tunnel again within two weeks since after an agreement with American justice, which must still be validated by a judge, the Michigan factory could soon reopen.
"By the end of June, we will be providing more infant formula to Americans than in January before the recall," said Robert Ford.
In the meantime, the United States is looking for other solutions.
The White House has taken up the problem.
US President Joe Biden has signed legislation that allows certain regulatory requirements to be bypassed “so people can more easily access the baby formula they need,” he said in a tweet.
He announced Wednesday the establishment of an airlift and the use of a law dating from the Cold War to try to solve this shortage.
A first flight carrying 132 pallets of Nestlé brand milk from Germany is expected in Indianapolis.