
Baby formula is the best food for infants whose mothers don’t breastfeed. Some parents experiment and try to make formulas themselves.
Obviously, such experiments are risky because caregivers can use low-quality ingredients or wrong proportions that might lead to health diseases or dehydration.
Consequently, the choice of baby formula is significant, but what should a parent do if the stores lack baby foods?
In 2020, American stores ran out of baby formulas. Parents felt desperate because they couldn’t supply their babies with the required nutrients.
So, they started searching for other alternatives, including products from European countries and their shops like Organic’s Best.
What made baby food disappear, and how did this change the American market?
Reasons Leading To Baby Formula Shortage
Three reasons led to the formula shortage in the US:
- Covid-19
- Dangerous bacteria
- American policy
First, the pandemic made people stockpile goods because they were afraid to stay without the needful things.
The infant formula was not an exception. Very soon, all shop shelves became empty, and American companies couldn’t cover the needs of all customers.
Second, two babies died because of baby formulas that had dangerous ingredients.
The main source of danger was a Michigan plant that contained Cronobacter sakazakii.
The FDA has strict requirements for baby food, so it inspected all baby food manufacturers and banned the ones with that harmful ingredient.
So, it increased the problem with baby formula availability.
Third, Donald Trump decided to reduce the number of imported products.
Consequently, it led to a decrease in products and didn’t allow parents to get the desired formula.
The choice of baby food became really primitive, so it played a bad game with the children of American parents.
Fourth, the imported formula had to meet the requirements of the FDA. Besides, shops had to add over 17% to the cost of the products due to the shipping procedure.
So, not every parent could afford such expensive baby formulas. Unfortunately, not all products corresponded to the FDA standards.
The biggest problem was their labeling, even though other ingredients were in the required quantity and quality.
To conclude, the most significant impact on the baby formula shortage is the American policy that rejects good products from other countries for the sake of domestic manufacturers.
Why Has Baby Formula Shortage Negatively Affected American Families?
Except for the apparent reason for baby food deficiency, American parents had nervous breakdowns because most mothers refused to breastfeed. The common causes are the following:
- job requirements (mothers are entitled only with one year of maternity leave; some organizations give less time);
- health problems (mothers can feel worse because they lose nutrients while breastfeeding);
- gay couples (males cannot breastfeed, so they either use baby formula or ask breastfeeding mothers to donate);
- having children from surrogate mothers;
- medication (mothers take drugs that are incompatible with breastfeeding).
One feels safer when having alternatives. Unfortunately, American families didn’t have other variants compared to the pre-Covid situation when stores were full of various baby formulas. So, caregivers were to search for alternatives to save the situation.
How Has the American Market Changed Because Of The Baby Formula Shortage?
Supermarkets and stores with baby foods became almost empty when the pandemic broke into our world.
According to American policy, European brands couldn’t enter the market because of labeling inconsistencies.
So, European products couldn’t appear on American shelves to satisfy the needs of their customers.
The remaining American companies got too many orders, so they couldn’t supply the market with the required amount of formula.
Consequently, parents had to look for the baby foods independently.
Fortunately, the Internet market got popular in 2020 because people were isolated and had to stay home and order goods at European stores to their doors.
Parents reserved the desired formula online and paid extra fees for shipping. The most popular European brands were:
- HiPP
- Holle
- Lebenswert Bio
- BebeM
- Kendamil
- Jovie
- Löwenzahn organics
Why do European baby formulas are trendy among American parents today? Most European brands use organic ingredients to make baby formulas.
Obviously, such goods are healthy and safe for children. Farmers take care of their animals and never use pesticides and antibiotics.
The EFSA has strict requirements for baby foods, and European brands do their best to meet the best standards.
Parents in the US began to haunt European baby food. Even though the situation has improved a bit in the US baby food market, the baby formula shortage is still apparent.
So, now, parents order European organic infant products, especially goat formula, which has several benefits.
Goat milk is easy to digest and doesn’t provoke allergic reactions in infants as often as cow formula.
Infants feel comfortable eating organic foods because they feel stronger and healthier thanks to natural ingredients.
Parents don’t have to watch their kids crying because of colics, bloating, allergic reactions, and indigestion.
Eventually, the baby formula shortage improved the food “preferences” of infants, who got a chance to eat safer foods without sugar and artificial components.