Parents everywhere are struggling to properly feed their kids as the nationwide baby formula shortage persists. Just last week, stores around the country stocked about 43% less baby formula than usual. Laura Katz, food scientist and CEO and founder of Helena, joins Cheddar to break it down. 

Cheddar's News Wrap

Baby Formula Shortage Grows More Severe

Welcome back to Chester's news wrap. Everyone. Parents everywhere are struggling to properly feed their kids as the nationwide baby formula shortage persists just last week, stores around the country stocked about 43% less baby formula than usual. Joining me now to discuss is laura cats food scientist Ceo and founder of Helena Laura Stores are running out of baby formula due to a combination of problems right now hitting the biggest brands. What exactly is going on here? And can you just paint the picture of how bad the shortages right now? What we're seeing right now is a lot of infant formula that is manufactured in this country is done by just a handful of manufacturers and when something goes wrong in one facility, a huge amount of the supply in the US becomes unavailable. And so that's one of the biggest things that's driving the shortage right now in combination with some of the supply chain issues that we're seeing and getting the actual raw materials available to create these formulas. And so, you know, huge shortages that are affecting so many families across the country. It's really devastating to see. And we know there are alternatives to baby formula. So wondering if you can discuss some of those because we've heard from pediatricians that parents should not be creating baby formula on their own right now, they definitely should not be. It's a very precisely formulated product, it needs all of baby's nutrition needs. And so buying something that's been created and formulated as the name goes for babies. It takes a lot of work. And so there are milk banks where you can get donor milk, uh, that is a great option. And they're really well regulated, they're very safe. That's another option for parents if they can't get access to formula. You mentioned milk banks. Are there any other alternatives that people can access right now? If they're having trouble finding baby formula, I would say your pediatrician is your best source of truth right now and it really is going to be dependent on what area of the country you're in. Um different different areas of the country are going to have different access via pharmacies and grocery stores. But infant formula, it's it's here for a reason. And it's something that you know why, you know Helena with what we're building, we need to be investing. And so many more alternatives. Because right now what is available is what is available for babies. And and that's unfortunately in really short supply, I'm glad that you mentioned Helena. Can you talk a little bit more about what exactly you're doing and how you're helping to tackle this problem. So what we're doing at Helena is recreating the proteins that are found in breast milk and putting that into a more human like infant formula. So with our vision to create the future of infant nutrition, we want to recreate all of the things in breast milk that make it really nutritious for babies and helped to build immunity and ultimately be another choice, a different type of product on the shelf. And if there's anything we're seeing right now, it's that innovation, new players, new technology that can enable more product and more diverse product is something that we really need. So we're really excited at Helena to be one of the company's leading and bringing a solution that will hopefully help to resolve these types of problems in the future definitely. And we're hearing even anecdotally, I'm hearing from a lot of parents concerned about being able to access formula for their babies right now, can you talk about the issue and just how hard it's hitting the families that are being hit hardest. It's devastating if you can't or you choose not to produce breast milk or feed your child breast milk. And formula is the only option that you have and it's the first food that we all eat. It's something you know, universal that everybody has to eat and has to get access to. And so when you can't feed your child that, I mean, we're seeing all over social media people pleading for infant formula. It's not a food that we ever thought we were going to have to grasp for. So it's really, you know, a desperate situation for so many parents and no new parent, you're dealing with so many things already, you're, you know, of any sleep, you're you have a crying baby and you don't want to have to worry about what you're feeding them. So it's really bleak for parents. And I think, you know, speaking with your pediatrician to figure out what is available in your area is a really great place to start because a lot of people are trying to create more resources or better access at the moment because it is such a challenge. And Laura just about 30 seconds left, I'm wondering um if there are families watching right now that are concerned about this, how long do you anticipate the shortage to last? Hopefully not too long. I know all of the current manufacturers are working incredibly hard to try to get products out to parents and you know, safety is the number one most important thing. And so when it comes to this thing that we're feeding babies, we need to make sure we can't cut corners or move too quickly to get something out there that could potentially not be completely nutritious. So while people are working really hard and really quickly to try to bring solutions to parents, it takes time. So it's hard to say how long it's gonna take. But I'm hopeful that we'll be able to as an industry resolve this as quickly as we can while keeping keeping our quality standards where they are laura, cats food scientist Ceo and founder of Helena, thank you so much for joining us