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Baby formula linked to a nationwide outbreak of infant botulism was distributed to programs serving homeless mothers and other struggling families in multiple states, but it’s unclear what actions are being taken to alert those families to the recall.
Formula maker ByHeart Inc., operates a formula donation program in partnership with Baby2Baby, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that counts high-profile celebrities among its supporters. ByHeart’s Open Hearted Initiative has donated nearly 24,000 cans of formula to at-risk families since June 2022, according to ByHeart’s website.
Neither ByHeart nor Baby2Baby answered questions sent by Healthbeat on Wednesday and Thursday about what actions are being taken to ensure people who received donated formula are aware they shouldn’t feed it to their babies.
Donald Whitehead Jr., executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said Thursday he was unaware ByHeart’s recall involved formula that included cans that were donated to groups that help feed homeless people. Special outreach efforts are needed to ensure they are aware of the danger, he said.
“We have no clear indication that people have access to news stories or if they’re listening at a given time to the radio,” Whitehead said, emphasizing press releases are not enough.
Whitehead said his organization has not received any alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the recall impacting homeless people. He said the CDC typically alerts the coalition of such health risks.
“Until you just alerted me, I did not know this issue existed,” Whitehead told Healthbeat. “I personally will reach out to the CDC.” He also said he will be sending an alert to his organization’s network.
The CDC did not immediately respond to questions from Healthbeat.
Bobby Watts, CEO of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, also said he was not aware that the recalled formula was part of a distribution program to homeless people and food banks. “I’m glad you raised this to our attention,” he said.
Watts said the infant formula recall is occurring at a time when families are relying even more on donated products because of recent cuts to food aid under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Health officials have identified 15 babies across 12 states that have been hospitalized for infant botulism since August. Symptoms of the dangerous infection – which include constipation, difficulty suckling or swallowing, loss of head control and progressive paralysis – are caused by infants ingesting bacteria spores.
ByHeart on Saturday announced a limited recall of its powdered formula, which it expanded to include all of its products on Tuesday as the number of infant botulism cases identified by federal and state health officials continued to grow.
According to ByHeart’s website, the company has been donating its infant formula as part of a goal of ending food insecurity for babies by 2028. “Whenever you purchase ByHeart, you’re supporting our OpenHearted Initiative, which helps provide infant formula, nutrition education, and essential support to families who need it most,” the company’s website says.
ByHeart said it partners with Baby2Baby to distribute formula to families. The program lists 23 organizations across the country as participants in the ByHeart formula donation program. They include WIN (Women In Need) in New York City, which provides services to homeless women and children and describes itself on its website as the city’s “largest provider of family shelter and supportive housing.”
In the metro Atlanta area, Helping Mamas in Norcross, Ga., is listed as another participant in the formula donation program.
Nobody from WIN or Helping Mamas responded to questions from Healthbeat about how much recalled formula they received and what is being done to ensure the people who were given the formula are aware it shouldn’t be used.
In Portland, Oregon, PDX Diaper Bank received 400 cans of the recalled ByHeart infant formula, of which 312 cans were recently distributed, said Rachel Alston, the group’s executive director.
But PDX Diaper bank wasn’t able to say what’s being done to alert the individual families who received the formula cans.
“PDX Diaper Bank does not provide direct services to families, so [we] are calling on our partner agencies to provide recall information to families directly impacted,” Alston said in an email to Healthbeat. Her organization disposed of the 88 formula cans remaining in its warehouse.
“We are prepared to support our partner agencies in regard to communications to families, if needed.”
Alston said PDX Diaper Bank, which was notified about the recall by Baby2Baby, has followed up by email and phone with the six organizations where it sent the formula to make sure they are aware of the recall. She did not name the six organizations.
Some of the other groups listed on ByHeart’s website as participating in the formula donation program include: El Nido Family Centers on Manchester Avenue in Los Angeles; Miami Diaper Bank in Hialeah, Florida.; Detroit Diaper Bank in Detroit; The Baby Bureau in Westminster, Pennsylvania; Mary’s Shelter in Reading, Pennsylvania; Family Network in Springdale, Arkansas; Power in Changing in Columbia, South Carolina; Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission in Covington, Kentucky; SheRises in Bowie, Maryland; and the Center for Children and Families in Norman, Oklahoma.
Heartbeat received no reply to messages left with these organizations asking how they are alerting people who received recalled formula.
A complete list of organizations that ByHeart’s website says are participating in the formula donation program is available at this link.
Alison Young is Healthbeat’s senior national reporter. You can reach her at ayoung@healthbeat.org or through the messaging app Signal at alisonyoungreports.48
