USDA Extends Access to Baby Formula for Low-Income Families

The Agriculture Department is extending a waiver that allows government aid recipients to purchase more brands of baby formula through December, as empty shelves continue to plague parents.

• Stores have been dangerously low on formula since Abbott Laboratories in February recalled some products linked to deadly bacterial infections
• The USDA announced Thursday it will continue to cover states’ costs to allow recipients of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children to buy formula outside existing company contracts; program was set to lapse at end of October
  • About half the infants in the WIC program were covered by ...