Plenty of missiles on the shelf, but no baby formula.
Militarization of the economy leads to screwed-up priorities
Ukraine's military needs change from day to day, but U.S. officials are in constant contact with them to ensure the right mix arrives in time to make a difference. — Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby
It appears my concerns have been validated in this case, as Abbott chose to spend billions on buying back its own stock instead of investing in critical upgrades to a plant essential to feeding our nation’s infants.” — Letter from Sen. Wyden to Abbott Chief Executive Officer Robert Ford.
When a country can produce a seemingly endless supply of weapons of mass destruction to ship on time to war zones worldwide but can’t make enough baby formula to stock empty shelves, it clearly has a fundamentally screwed-up set of values.
There is no “free market capitalism” in the baby formula business. It’s totally monopolized by corporate giants like Abbott and Nestlé which continue to receive big tax breaks and governmental subsidies.
Millions of families use baby formula, but there are too few brands to supply it, leading to catastrophic shortages when just one of the major brands has a lapse in production. Moms of babies across the U.S. have struggled to find formula supplies amid inflation, supply chain issues, and recalls.
About half of the infant formula in the US is purchased by low-income families using federal WIC benefits, which allow them to obtain the formula for free but restrict what type, size, and brand they can select. The WIC program gives power to the states to contract with whichever company they choose to provide the formula. But the Department of Agriculture is now providing waivers to states to give parents using WIC benefits a wider array of options, if they can find product on the shelves and if their babies can easily switch formulas.
Abbott started recalling several of its powder baby formulas in February when infants began falling ill with Salmonella Newport and another bacteria called Cronobacter sakazakii after consuming the products.
Aside from declining sales, Abbott’s nutrition business now faces costly lawsuits involving serious allegations that could damage its reputation and brands. And the growing severity of a nationwide baby formula shortage, caused by Abbott recalls is attracting even more negative attention to the company.
Lower-income families are more likely than wealthier ones to use formula over breastfeeding and start their babies on it earlier in life, due in part to the absence of national paid parental leave policies and less flexibility for mothers in service-industry jobs. So now doctors are warning those parents not to dilute formula with water or substitute cows’ milk.
Nestlé, the world’s largest food corporation, said Tuesday that it is rushing shipments of baby formulas from The Netherlands and Switzerland to the U.S. to assist with a nationwide shortage that began late last year due to supply-chain disruptions. But international brands are also disincentivized from exporting their baby formula to the U.S. by tariffs as high as 17.5%. Reliance on imports could make matters even worse, leaving low-income families unable to afford the required level of nutrition for their babies.
The introduction of Nestlé infant formula, the largest supplier worldwide, resulted in approximately 66,000 infant deaths mostly in third-world countries in 1981, where communities had no access to clean drinking water.
Meanwhile, the US is more than able to deliver billions of dollars in weaponry on time and with few worries about supply lines, inflation, or product misuse.