Relief is on the way for parents struggling to find baby formula. The White House announced on Monday, June 6, that the Biden administration is sourcing a flight to transport Nestlé infant formulas from Cologne, Germany to Fort Worth, Texas on June 9.
The flight is part of the government's ongoing Operation Fly Formula, aimed at speeding up the import of infant formula to restock store shelves as soon as possible. The White House said that this delivery will include 110,000 pounds of Nestlé NAN SupremePro Stage 1infant formula, approximately 1.6 million 8-ounce bottles.
The product will be available across the United States through Nestlé/Gerber distribution channels, and additional deliveries of Nestlé formula will be announced in the coming days, according to Reuters.
Kendamil formula also to arrive on June 9
Several more flights with formula are scheduled for June 9 as well. United Airlines will ship 3.7 million bottles of Kendamil formula from London on Thursday. That formula will become available in the coming weeks in Target stores. The United States will also fly in several shipments of Bubs Formula from Australia starting that same day.
The flights come as Abbott Nutrition - the manufacturers of Similac and the largest producer of baby formula in the U.S. - has reopened its shut down plant in Sturgis, Michigan over the weekend, after meeting initial requirements set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Abbott said it will start by ramping up the production of Elecare and other specialty formulas for babies with food allergies. At this point, though, the first batches of formula are not expected to hit store shelves for more than a couple of weeks, which is around June 20.
An Abbott spokesperson told NBC News that they are also working hard to fulfill the steps necessary to restart production of Similac and other formulas and will do so as soon as they can. The spokesperson added that they understand the urgent need for formula, and their top priority is getting high-quality, safe formula into the hands of families across America.
Abbott resumes production at Michigan plant
The current baby formula crisis that has been plaguing the United States escalated four months ago when Abbott's Michigan plant shut down following an inspection that found a type of bacteria that is dangerous to babies and possibly landed some infants in the hospital. This led to a massive recall of Abbott Nutrition's formula products, exacerbating an already tight market that was impacted by supply chain issues and the COVID pandemic.
According to CNN, Abbott was allowed to resume production after agreeing to a consent decree with the FDA, stipulating that the Michigan plant must retain an independent expert to review operations and ensure that the manufacturer is following the law. FDA investigators have been on-site at the facility for days overseeing the reopening process.
The makers of other brands like Enfamil have been able to get help from the government over the last several weeks to increase production and more formula to shelves.
