New York – Kosher grocery stores are facing depleted stocks of an imported Israeli baby formula popular among Hasidic Jewish families.
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Materna, the manufacturer, is no longer able to make shipments to the U.S., leading to shortages of one of the few dairy-based formulas that conforms to the religious laws followed by Hasidic Jews.
“I’m getting at least ten calls a day asking if it’s in,” said Yermi Fried, manager of Empire Kosher in Crown Heights. “It’s sad, there’s a big demand. People are grabbing it off the shelf, whatever is available. I have barely anything left.”
While there is a wide selection of kosher formulas available on the market and used by Orthodox Jewish families, Hasidic families have fewer options. They look for a more stringent kosher standard referred to as chlolov yisroel. The formula shortage was first reported by the website Kveller.com.
“It’s an ultra-Orthodox standard of kashrut, which means the milk has to be watched by a kosher supervisor from the time it leaves the cow,” said Sue Fishkoff, the California-based author of a book on kosher food.
The only dairy-based options sold commercially are the Materna formula and a Similac product, which families say is more expensive and doesn’t come in a powder form. There are also soy-based formulas that Hasidic families can use.
“I use Materna for my daughter, and it’s just not available now,” said Chani Frankel, a Borough Park mother of an 8-month-old. “Similac is way more expensive. It takes awhile for a kid to get adjusted to a formula, and my daughter is already adjusted to Materna. Now I have to go and find something else.”
Parents should be aware that Materna once had a lot of sugar in the ingredients. I would advise parents to check the sugar content in case the formula is still laden with sugar and if so, to check with their doctor before using it.
Something doesn’t make cents. If the FDA said in 2009 that this item can not be imported in the US how did it get in till now and why will it be available after pasach if it doesn’t meet the FDA standards
20 years ago there was no cholov Yisroel formula. I nursed my daughter for as long as I could, I could not wean her as she would not tolerate any formula. Finally I just had to wean her to regular food and milk, but she was allergic and threw up everything except for breast milk.
Oh she’s fine now, she just needs a shidduch.
For those of us who are using materna as our baby’s only nutrition this is scary. I know there is a Cholov Yisroel Similac that J&J makes but, it only comes in liquid form which makes it much more expensive. Does anyone know of another Cholov Yisroel formula??
Mothers should take this as a sign to nurse their children. Formula is unhealthy, and leads to obesity (in infants and in later years), food allergies, a greater propensity towards ear infections and lower IQ. Irreversible changes to the intestinal structure are caused by the introduction of anything but mother’s milk before the closing of the protein gaps around 12 months.
this is so unfair some women cannot nurse or the child beleive it or not cannot tolerate the mother’s milk. I have severe allergies and could not nurse one child who could not tolerate what I could eat so she ended up on a treif formula the only thing she could tolerate and the rav said pikuach nefesh so feed her what she needs. PLEASE DO NOT PONTIFICATE people need to make informed choices that are good for their children and not based on peer pressure.
nothing beats the kosher status of Materna! it has the hechsher of the Badatz Eida Hachariedis…