May 22, 2022.
The first of several emergency flights the Biden Administration hopes will ease a national shortage of baby formula arrived in Indianapolis on Sunday with 39 tons of formula from Europe.
Europe is sending baby formula to ease the national shortage.
The White House said that the plane that took off from the U.S.-run Ramstein Air Base in Germany Saturday night carried medical-grade baby formula produced in a European facility approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Brian Deese, the National Economic Council Director, told CNN that formula should be back on store shelves as early as this week.
The flight was part of a plan to use Department of Defense aircraft to bring baby formula to the U.S., circumventing normal freight routes and cutting down a two-week transport process to about three days, according to the White House Press Secretary.
The Associated Press reported that upcoming shipments from Ramstein will include 1.5 million 8-ounce bottles of formula produced by the two companies.
In his CNN interview, Deese blamed the national shortage in part on a manufacturer that he said wasn't following the rules and was making formula that had the risk of making babies sick. Robert Ford apologized for the recall in an op-ed.
Regulators launched an investigation into possible links between formula from the plant and a series of infant infections and two deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the infections and found no new cases. Abbott struck a deal with the FDA to reopen its plant.
Ford said in his Saturday column that he expects the Abbott plant to reopen by the first week of June and that he hopes to double the U.S.'s current powdered infant formula production levels. It could take six to eight weeks from the start of production to get formula back on store shelves.
The 1950 Defense Production Act has been invoked by the Biden Administration in an attempt to reduce the shortage of formula. The president can require businesses to make materials that are necessary for national defense.
The Defense Production Act requires the manufacture of baby formula ingredients.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
