Infant formula isn't some niche parenting topic. It's a public health issue, a food security issue, and in many ways an infrastructure issue.

The 2022 infant formula crisis was one of the most alarming food system failures in recent memory. Shelves were suddenly empty. Parents were driving across state lines to find cans of formula. The Department of Defense was flying it in on military planes. And most of us — including me — realized we knew almost nothing about how infant formula actually works, where it comes from, or how consolidated the industry really is.

Mallory Whitmore, known online as @theformulamom, has spent the last five years building the resource she couldn't find when she needed it most. As an infant feeding technician and now the education lead at Bobbie, a U.S. formula company, she's become one of the most influential voices on formula in the country. With more than 200,000 Instagram followers and a new book, Bottle Service, Mallory aims to give parents guilt-free, evidence-based guidance they're rarely getting anywhere else. Most parents use formula at some point before their babies turn one — it’s high time we stop treating formula as a niche topic.

Highlights:

– What Mallory learned (and all the info she couldn't find) when breastfeeding didn't work for her first daughter

– What it was like to be in the middle of the 2022 Abbott recall, the crisis that exposed just how fragile the U.S. formula supply chain really is

– The shame and stigma around formula feeding, and why "breast is best" messaging isn't landing the way it's intended

– What parents should actually look for in a formula

– Lactose, corn syrup solids, and other misunderstood ingredients

– Why some parents believe European formulas are superior, what's actually different, and the real risks of importing your own

– Operation Stork Speed: the FDA's first serious look at updating infant formula nutrition standards in decades, and whether the panel's expert guidance will actually translate into policy

Where to find Mallory Whitmore:

Follow Mallory Whitmore on Instagram

Check out her book Bottle Service

Mentioned in this episode:

Operation Stork Speed

Stay in touch:

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Check out Forked, the food politics podcast Helena co-hosts with the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

Credits: This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz. Original music by David Bottemiller.