The shortage was caused because there are only three major manufacturers of baby formula in the US. The FDA makes it very difficult for someone to startup a baby formula business that does not have the financial backing to do so. Secondly, one of those three manufacturers, Abbott Labs, was forced to shut down one of their facilities because of contamination. There wasn't enough capacity among the other two to take up the slack.

Same reason with high gas prices. We don't have a shortage of oil, we have a shortage of oil refineries. The EPA has basically prevented the building of any new refineries for the last 25 years.

This is first Ive heard of this. Any legit links beyond Youtube?

Nobody is reporting on it because it isn't true. WIC doesn't stockpile anything. The program doesn't distribute baby formula. It simply pays for items at the grocery store.

The government caused the shortage because the economic model for WIC grants a monopoly to one baby formula manufacturer in each state. If you don't have that contract, you can't compete. As a result, there is very limited competition in the market and when you stress that market with the same supply chain issues everything else is going through, and then close a huge factory, you get a shortage.

The current shortage is due to panic buying. There is more baby formula being sold in the US every day than before the shortage, but people are panic buying, creating a shortage. It's just like toilet paper in 2020.

You might be surprised how many can’t make enough. My daughter in law has to supplement with formula.

Just go natural, all the new moms out there don’t have dried up udders.

Ever since I heard about the "shortage" of formula I glance at the glass case at Walmart to see if there is any in there. I am not joking when I say I have seen no less than 100 cans every time I go in there. Some times its all one type and other times there might be 5 or 6 types but there is ALWAYS a ton of it in there. I am starting to think this "shortage" is really just a shortage of a certain type of formula because there is no way that someone like me that doesnt even need it, can find it every single day of the week. I got a feeling that its kind of like going into Walmart looking for Nabisco crackers but all they have is Great Value. They still have the damn crackers its just not the exact ones you want.