Biden: I was late to be alerted to formula crisis

Manufacturers say they sounded alarm months earlier

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said Wednesday he wasn’t alerted that the nation faced a looming shortage of baby formula until April, though executives of baby formula manufacturers said they sounded the alarm to retailers two months earlier.

“We knew from the very beginning that this would be a very serious event,” said Robert Cleveland, senior vice president at Reckitt, which produces baby formula.

The disconnect emerged at a virtual White House meeting between Biden and executives of five baby formula firms to discuss efforts to ramp up formula production to address the shortage.

Triggering the crisis was the safety-related closure of Abbott Nutrition’s formula-making plant in Sturgis, Michigan, on Feb. 17. Abbott supplies 46.2% of the U.S. supply of baby formula, and about one-quarter was historically produced at the Michigan plant.

“From the moment that recall was announced, we reached out immediately to retail partners like Target, Walmart to tell them this is what we think will happen,” Cleveland told the president.

After the 50-minute meeting, Biden repeated, “I don’t think anyone anticipated the impact of the shutdown of Abbott’s facility,” minutes after manufacturers said they anticipated a shortage.

“They did, but I didn’t,” Biden said, adding that he wasn’t made aware of the problem until early April. “We did everything in our power from that point on. That’s all I can tell you right now. And we’re going to continue to do it together.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration has taken “a whole-of-government approach” since “Day 1 of the recall” of Abbott products in February even if Biden wasn’t alerted until later.

Absent from Wednesday’s gathering were executives from Abbott. Jean-Pierre pointed to the company’s consent decree with the FDA, which dictates benchmarks required to resume production, when asked why Abbott was not invited.

“That process is ongoing and should remain between them,” she said.

A representative from Abbott did not respond to messages from USA TODAY on its absence.

Executives who attended are heads of five baby formula makers – ByHeart, Bubs Australia, Reckitt, Perrigo and Gerber – working with the Biden administration to fill Abbott’s production void.

Biden, speaking to CEOs displayed on television screens, touted his administration’s efforts to increase production through “Operation Fly Formula,” which seeks to import baby formula from overseas, and by invoking wartime powers through the Defense Production Act.

“There’s nothing more stressful than the feeling you can’t get what your child needs,” Biden said.

Biden announced the third and fourth shipments through Operation Fly Formula. United Airlines, free of charge, will transport more than 300,000 pounds of Kendamil formula – equal to about 3.7 million 8ounce bottles – over three weeks starting June 9. The product will come from London.

Two flights June 9 and 11 from Melbourne, Australia, will bring 380,000 pounds of Bubs Australia formula – equal to about 4.6 million 8-ounce bottles – to Pennsylvania and California. Other shipments of Bubs Australia formula will be announced soon.

Biden said it could be a “couple more months” before the formula market returns to normal.