The severe shortage of baby formula in the United States has caused panic! Amazon Canada's prices and delivery fees are shocking!

It is learned that the recent severe shortage of infant formula in the US market has caused panic, and American parents have begun to frantically look for new and trustworthy milk powder brands. Retailers have restricted the purchase of milk powder. CVS and Walgreens limit each customer to only 3 pieces, and Target also limits the purchase quantity to four pieces. Amazon also said it is doing its best to replenish stocks and will monitor and crack down on the selling prices of third-party sellers. As of the week of May 8, 43% of formula milk powder in 11,000 stores in the United States were out of stock, and the out-of-stock volume was 11% higher than the peak sales season at the end of November 2021.

Google Trends data also shows that searches for infant formula began to rise sharply on May 7 and reached a peak on May 10, and it is still a popular search keyword. In addition, Americans are searching a lot for information about how to buy infant formula from Canada and other countries outside the United States.

Some social media users, such as Facebook users, even suggested that American "parents" who could not find milk powder should move their purchases to Amazon Canada. In response, a large number of Canadian "parents" protested that there was also a shortage of milk powder in Canada, and that Walmart's inventory was decreasing day by day, and advised American consumers not to go to Canada to buy milk powder.

But will Amazon Canada ship orders for infant formula to U.S. consumers? The answer is no. Amazon Canada does not ship orders for infant formula to U.S. consumers. Some third-party sellers may accept orders from the U.S., though. But medical experts do not recommend buying formula from other countries: "98% of formula on the U.S. market is produced in the United States. Formula purchased from overseas is not subject to U.S. regulation like domestically produced formula. Quality standards cannot be guaranteed."

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also advises consumers not to purchase imported formula milk online for the following reasons: imported formula milk is not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the shipping and storage conditions of imported formula milk are unknown, and it is impossible to determine whether it is a recalled product, posing a health risk.

According to the AAP Parenting website, the FDA received six reports of safety incidents related to imported European formula in 2016 and 2017. Babies have become sick or died from consuming contaminated formula produced outside the U.S. According to Children's Hospital Colorado, it is illegal to sell European infant formula in the U.S. because the formula is not regulated by the FDA.

According to Amazon, if the infant formula product is sold and shipped by Amazon, or sold by a third-party seller and shipped by Amazon, US buyers cannot buy infant formula products from Amazon Canada. A buyer ordered infant formula products from Amazon.ca and filled in a Washington state address to verify whether the social media user's suggestion was feasible. However, he received an error message: Unable to deliver to the selected address.

It is learned that third-party sellers can sell their products independently on Amazon. If their products are not delivered by Amazon, self-delivery sellers will handle the orders and be responsible for delivery. Those self-delivery sellers on Amazon Canada not only sell baby formula at high prices, but also charge delivery fees of more than $30.

It is reported that the recent severe shortage of infant formula in the United States has caused panic, in addition to insufficient supply, the large-scale recall of milk powder produced by Abbott Nutrition in Sturgis, Michigan has also exacerbated the shortage. Abbott Nutrition said on May 16 that it had reached an agreement with the FDA on steps to resume production and maintain the Sturgis plant. The agreement currently needs to be approved by the FDA and the court.

The company said that after FDA approval, Abbott may reopen its website sales channels within two weeks, but it will take at least six to eight weeks to put formula products on the shelves. In the meantime, Abbott will continue to import formula from an FDA-registered factory in Ireland.

The White House said President Biden also discussed with Gerber and Reckitt Benckiser executives how to increase milk powder production, and with Walmart and Target leaders on measures to replenish inventory and make milk powder available to consumers as soon as possible. The U.S. government also plans to work with trading partners in Mexico, Chile, Ireland and the Netherlands to increase imports of infant formula.

"The shortage is so severe that it may take several months to resolve," said Dr. Steven Abrams, a pediatrician at the University of Texas.

Editor ✎Estella/

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