Baby formula shortage: White House to ship more than 44,000 pounds
The formula shortage has left store shelves empty
The Biden administration announced a seventh mission for "Operation Fly Formula," amid the nationwide shortage of infant formula.
In a release, the administration said it would facilitate the shipment of approximately 548,000 eight-ounce bottle equivalents of Nestlé Alfamino® and Alfamino®Junior specialty infant formula this week, or more than 44,000 pounds.
The Nestlé formula will be transported from Switzerland to Louisville, Kentucky, on Thursday.
The product will be available primarily through a distribution pipeline that serves hospitals, home health companies and programs for women, infants and children across the country.
FILE PHOTO: Shelves for baby and toddler formula are partially empty, as the quantity a shopper can buy is limited amid continuing nationwide shortages, at a grocery store in Medford, Massachusetts, May 17, 2022. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder / Reuters)
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Additional deliveries will be announced in coming days.
Nestle plans to export approximately 42 million eight-ounce bottle equivalents into the U.S. market.
A second shipment of infant formula, brought to the United States under "Operation Fly Formula" in response to supply chain shortages, is seen at Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia, May 25, 2022. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz / Reuters)
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in May that the agency is exercising enforcement discretion so that Nestlé can export additional infant formula to America.
The first Operation Fly Formula mission was approved in mid-May.
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By June 19, the White House said that Operation Fly Formula flights will have imported nearly 13 million eight-bottle equivalents of baby formula.
Empty infant formula shelves are seen at a Target store in New York, New York, June 5, 2022. (REUTERS/Jessica Dinapoli / Reuters)
Last week, the White House said that Delta Air Lines would start transporting 3.2 million bottles of Kendamil baby formula on Jun. 20, from London to Boston and Detroit.
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Separately, the FDA said Abbott Laboratories would have 16.5 million bottles of its Similac infant formula ready to be shipped from Spain this month.
FOX Business' Breck Dumas, Daniella Genovese and Reuters contributed to this report.