Hawaii parents hunt for baby formula amid shortage

After searching in vain at three other stores, Ewa Beach mom Dalbir Gill finally located the formula for sensitive babies she was looking for at Target in Kailua.

She found it after visiting stores in Kapolei, Salt Lake and Ala Moana, where shelves of baby formula were stripped bare, and says it has become a routine sight as a shortage takes hold nationwide.

“It’s been challenging,” Gill said. “She has a sensitive tummy, but that’s what you have to do for a baby.”

Gill said she also placed orders online but was still waiting for them to arrive.

Parents across the U.S. are scrambling to find baby formula as supply disruptions, compounded by a massive safety recall by major manufacturer Abbott, have left many store shelves empty of leading brands, according to the Associated Press.

Several chains, such as Walgreen’s and CVS, which owns Longs Drugs in Hawaii, are limiting purchases of baby formula to three containers at a time.

Dr. Sheree Kuo, a pediatrician at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, said she has not yet had parents calling in about formula shortages and that there is no need to panic.

“I think different parents are going to be in different positions,” Kuo said. “If you are someone who is pregnant and you haven’t made a decision, this is a good reason to try to exclusively breastfeed your baby because you won’t be dependent on the supply chain or recalls.”

For mothers of newborns who use a combination of breastfeeding and bottle feeding, this may be a reason to build up their milk supply. Help is available from lactation experts and groups such as Hawaii Mothers Milk.

Parents of babies who are close to 1 year of age might want to discuss with their pediatrician whether it’s a good time to switch to less formula and more solid food and cow’s milk.

For families that are dependent on formula, Kuo recommends searching in smaller grocery or drugstores rather than large supermarket chains, or purchasing online from reputable distributors or pharmacies but not from overseas, because those suppliers are not under the purview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

She also recommends buying two weeks’ worth of formula and leaving the rest for others who may need it, in line with guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatricians.

“I don’t recommend people hoarding it in their garage,” Kuo said. “The case sitting in there could be vital to some other family’s baby that isn’t getting it.”

But she also recommends that any concerned parents, particularly those in need of specialty formulas, contact their pediatrician.

The Abbott recall has had a direct impact on recipients of the state’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, a federally funded program.

This is because the use of electronic benefit transfer funds is limited to mostly Abbott products such as Similac. However, WIC in Hawaii has been able to provide some flexibility by allowing other brands and container sizes that are listed online.

Some substitutes include concentrate and ready-to-use formulas instead of powdered forms.

“It’s definitely been a challenge,” said Lorilyn Salamanca, a state public health nutritionist. “We do have families saying that they can’t find it at this store and had to drive to a couple of stores to find it.”

The challenges have been greater on neighbor islands due to supply issues, which existed even before the Abbott recall.

“We’re not entirely sure when this will be completely resolved,” Salamanca said. “It’s at the hands of the manufacturer.”

Kuo warned that watering down baby formula is not a good idea, and that product instructions should always be followed.

“It can be tempting to water down the formula to make it stretch out,” she said. “When you’re doing this, you’re not providing enough nutrients to your baby because you’re providing more water than prescribed.”

Also, she said, too much water can cause an electrolyte deficiency in babies. Alternatives such as goat milk and soy or almond milk are not a good idea either.

Goat milk offers perfectly good nutrition for baby goats but not for human babies, she said. Soy and almond milks are not recommended due to low protein and minerals.

“Along the same lines it is also tempting to look online for homemade recipes for formulas,” Kuo said. “In general the AAP feels these recipes are not safe, they’ve not been tested, and they are not able to meet an infant’s nutritional needs, so we don’t recommend families trying this at home either.”

But switching between different infant formula brands or generic brands should be fine, she said, since they are comparable. And again, if parents have concerns about what to do, they should discuss it with their pediatrician.

Hawaii Foodbank and the Food Basket on Hawaii island said baby formula is not generally among the items they give out regularly, in part because of time-­sensitive expiration dates.

The FDA on Tuesday said it was “working tirelessly” on increasing the availability of infant and specialty formula products. The agency has also advised parents and caregivers not to make their own homemade infant formulas due to serious health and safety concerns.

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, on Wednesday urged the FDA to expedite its investigation of the Abbott facility to ensure production resumes as quickly as possible and to develop a long-term plan to prevent future shortages.

“The closure of Abbott’s facility, supply chain issues, and the impact of rising food costs have all made it increasingly difficult for families to find and afford formula — a problem that is even more dire in high cost of living states like Hawaii,” Hirono said in a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf.

She is giving the FDA until May 25 to respond.