Latest baby formula recall hits as more Americans struggle to find supply again

Another baby formula recall is chipping away at supply as shortages that spiked last year still plague almost two million Americans.

Reckitt on Monday said it was voluntarily recalling about 145,000 cans of its Enfamil Prosobee Simply Plant-Based Infant Formula in light of a potential cross-contamination with bacteria.

The company was acting out of an “abundance of caution,” it said in a news release. The supply of concern was limited to 12.9-ounce containers manufactured between August and September of last year. No illnesses or adverse events have been reported and product samples tested negative for the bacteria, according to the company’s statement.

The recall comes after a yearlong scramble by parents and caregivers to find formula for their infants. After Abbott Laboratories issued a recall for powdered formula made at its Sturgis, Mich., facility last February, shortages spiked to as much at 90% in certain metro areas and 70% nationwide. (The company is facing multiple investigations for the incident.)

Availability increased after President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act in May to boost production of baby formula, but many still struggle to find product. Nearly two million households with babies under 1 year old said they had difficulty sourcing formula in January, a Census Bureau survey published last month found. That’s up from 1.3 million in September, the first month the Census Bureau asked the question.

Ailen Arreaza, a co-director of the family advocacy group ParentsTogether, said the recall was "another blow" to families navigating an increasingly volatile food landscape with price increases on eggs and other staples coinciding with the looming end of enhanced benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“Parents have enough to worry about without having to determine whether the food they give their babies is safe to eat,” said Arreaza.

The affected Enfamil product is a 12.9-ounce can with UPC number 300871214415; global batch number ZL2HZF or ZL2HZZ; lot number 0670975 or 0670979, and an expiration date of March 1, 2024.