A consignment of infant formula designed to fill the deficit across the country arrived in the United States from Europe on Sunday and a second flight is expected to bring additional deliveries in the coming days, the Biden administration said.
The consignment, equivalent to about 500,000 eight-ounce bottles, contained a hypoallergenic formula for children allergic to cow’s milk protein, a White House statement said. It provides enough formula to care for 9,000 babies and 18,000 young children in one week, said Tom Wilsac, agriculture minister, in a televised speech at Indianapolis airport, where the shipment arrived by military plane from Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.
“This package of formula serves a critical medical purpose and will help babies with specific dietary needs that require a specialized formula,” Mr Wilsac said on Twitter.
A second shipment, expected to arrive this week, will increase formula deliveries to the equivalent of 1.5 million eight-ounce bottles of three formulas, which will later be distributed by a Nestlé facility in Pennsylvania.
It was not immediately clear how soon consumers would see adequate deliveries of formula on supermarket shelves.
Nestlé, which produces two of the formula brands that were part of the shipment, said that because they are designed for children with allergies, they will be available in hospitals and home healthcare companies, with small quantities potentially available online.
Asked in an interview with NBC News when the shelves will be full again, Mr Wilsac said: “I think it’s a matter of weeks.”
The transport is part of a series of measures taken by the Biden administration to address the shortage of formula for infants and young children, which threatened to become a political and public health disaster as frustrated families searched depleted supermarket shelves.
The effects of the Sturgess plant closure are widespread, with stores restricting purchases of formula and desperate parents looking for consumables or trying to make formula at home, which pediatricians discourage. Shortages are also exacerbated by supply chain problems and labor shortages associated with the pandemic.
A statement from the White House said that the pallets of formula that arrived on Sunday were “a priority because they serve a critical medical purpose” and were in short supply due to the closure of the Sturgis plant.
As another step to tackle the acute shortage, the FDA announced last week that it would ease some of its regulations to encourage new providers to provide formula. The United States typically produces about 98 percent of the formula it consumes, with imports coming mainly from Mexico, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Add Comment