Baby food still scarce as brands are out of stock

According to a report, the nationwide shortage of baby food is not abating as nearly a third of brands are out of stock.

Figures released on Friday for the week ending July 24 showed a 30 percent out-of-stock rate, down slightly from 32 percent the week before, the Daily Mail reported.

When the shortage hit the headlines at the end of May, 23.7% of brands were reported as out of stock.

The typical out-of-stock range before the COVID-19 pandemic was between 5% and 7%.

The Biden administration has imported baby formula from abroad as part of Operation Fly Formula, with the number of imported 8-ounce bottle equivalents reaching about 61 million as of July 24.

But one Virginia family said they are still struggling to find the special formula needed for their 2-year-old daughter.

“Our situation hasn’t changed at all,” mother Jillian Arroyo told a local TV station. “We still feed our child expired formula because we have that.”

The shortage, which began during the pandemic, worsened after manufacturer Abbott shut down a Michigan plant over potentially contaminated formula. The facility reopened in June, only to be closed by flooding and reopened in July.