78,000 pounds of baby formula airlifted to US

The military shipment that arrived Sunday from Germany, carrying enough formula to fill roughly 15 percent of the current national need, will be taken to a Nestlé hub in Indiana, undergo a routine product control check, and then be distributed to hospitals and pharmacies. The operation is meant to supplement a shortage caused by the closure of America’s largest domestic formula manufacturing plant in Michigan, Abbott Nutrition, in February due to safety concerns. The Biden administration announced the plant will reopen within weeks, but it will take at least two months to become operational.

Will there be more flights? Another shipment of formula is bound for a Nestlé facility in Pennsylvania, and more are planned. Many of the orders fill needs for infants with allergies or dietary restrictions who cannot have regular formula. Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, said in a CNN interview Sunday the government is working on further relief efforts, but the country needs more formula providers to prevent Abbott’s monopoly on supply chains. 

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas’ article in Vitals on pregnancy centers hunting for formula.