First shipment of baby formula arrives in US
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A military cargo plane carrying the first shipment of infant formula from Europe to help address a critical shortage in the United States landed in Indianapolis on Sunday, and the White House said a second flight has been arranged.
A February 17 recall by top baby formula maker Abbott Laboratories and the closing of its manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Michigan, during an investigation by the US Food and Drug Administration has created one of the biggest infant formula shortages in recent history for US families.
“This is an important step, but it is by no means the only step that must take place. We will continue to work as the president has instructed us to look for every opportunity to increase supply,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who greeted the plane on its arrival.
“This particular formula is for a very, very small percentage of children. Roughly 17,000 children in the country basically are the beneficiaries of this particular formula,” he said.
President Joe Biden’s administration is seeking to stock empty shelves with 1.5 million containers of Nestlé specialty infant formulas. Biden last week invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to help increase supplies.
The White House said on Sunday a second flight carrying formula would leave from Ramstein Air Base in Germany in coming days. The White House said that Abbott and a second baby formula maker, Reckitt, were the first companies given priority status for raw supplies under the Defense Production Act.
Nestlé also said more shipments would arrive in the coming days.
Troops used forklifts to unload boxes of the cargo from the plane in Indianapolis and onto trucks heading to distribution centers. The White House said 78,000 pounds of specialty infant formula – enough for 500,000 bottles – had arrived on the flight.
Abbott, the biggest US supplier of powder infant formula, closed its Michigan plant following reports of bacterial infections in four infants, worsening a shortage among multiple manufacturers that began with supply-chain issues tied to COVID-19.