U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has blamed the worsening baby formula scarcity on middlemen hoarding the products.

On Thursday, the White House announced that it was taking several steps to relieve the crisis.

“President Biden has directed the administration to work urgently to ensure that infant formula is safe and available for families across the country during the Abbott Nutrition voluntary recall,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a press briefing. “We’ve already seen an increase in supply over the past couple of weeks.  What we are seeing, which is an enormous problem, is hoarding.  People hoarding because they’re fearful — that is one element of it — and people hoarding because they are trying to profit off of fearful parents.”

The baby formula scarcity began in the second half of 2021.

Out-of-stock rates for baby formula ranged between two per cent and eight per cent, according to Datasembly, a retail sales tracker company. 

The company recorded a 15 per cent increase in baby formula being out of stock by the end of the year.  

The scarcity spiked in February after Abbott, one of the three companies that produce virtually all infant formulas in the U.S., recalled its products in light of discovering harmful bacteria in one of its manufacturing plants in Sturgis, Michigan.

The Food and Drug Administration shut the plant down and its products were recalled after two infants died and two others fell ill after consuming its formula. 

At this time, Datasembly notes that about 40 per cent of large retail stores in the U.S. are out of baby formula, up from 31 per cent in mid-April.