Baby formula shortage hits Georgia hard

The baby formula shortage has left store shelves bare across the country, leaving many families and caregivers scrambling to feed their children, including here in Georgia.

• The scarcity is largely because of supply chain challenges linked to the pandemic and voluntary product recalls by one of the nation's largest suppliers.

Driving the news: More than 40% of Georgia's expected formula stock was absent from shelves the week of May 1, according to Datasembly, a retail software company.

• In comparison, the nation averaged around 43%.

State of play: About 3 in 4 babies are fed formula by six months old as a complete or partial substitute for human milk, Axios' Nathan Bomey reports.

• In the U.S., Abbott Nutrition controls nearly 50 percent of the baby formula industry's market. Four other companies control more than 40 percent of the rest.
• Abbott shut down its Michigan plant in February because of allegations its formula was potentially making kids sick and was tied to some deaths.

Go deeper: Our Axios colleagues in Charlotte and Philadelphia spoke with local experts about what parents should do (check smaller retailers) and shouldn't do (make homemade formula).

The latest: The FDA announced last week that Abbott can reopen its plant, though it could take several weeks to reach full production again.

• The first of several shipments of Nestlé formula from Europe arrived in Indiana and could help ease the shortage.

Between the lines: Sen. Raphael Warnock co-sponsored bipartisan legislation — later signed into law by President Biden — that gives parents receiving federal assistance more leeway to select formula.