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First US military jet carrying baby formula from Europe to arrive Sunday
A U.S. military aircraft on Sunday will deliver the first batch of baby formula from Europe to Indianapolis under Operation Fly Formula as the Biden administration accelerates efforts to alleviate a domestic shortage.
The White House announced Saturday that a U.S. Air Force cargo jet will transport 132 pallets of Nestle’s Alfamino Infant and Alfamino Junior formula from Ramstein Air Base in Germany to the Indianapolis airport. From there the shipment will be trucked to a Nestle Health Science facility in Plainfield, Indiana.
Administration officials had insisted since the launch of the emergency airlift on Wednesday that commercial cargo airlines selected by the Defense Department under existing contract arrangements would transport the baby formula. Officials said the following day that the initial round of flights would carry Nestle formula from Zurich to Indiana. Saturday’s statement said the urgency of the situation required the use of a military aircraft for the initial shipment.
The supply shortfall has recently resulted in hospitalizations for some undernourished infants.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsakc will travel to Indianapolis to greet the arrival of the first formula shipment. The Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services are working with manufacturers to identify available sources of overseas infant formula and placing transport requests with U.S. Transportation Command.
The Alfamino products have been prioritized because they are formula types that are in critically short supply, according to the administration. Alfamino is primarily available through hospitals and home health care companies that serve patients at home.
The government plans to announce additional flights in the coming days.
Baby formula has been in short supply at retail stores over the past year because of widespread supply chain dislocations. The situation became acute in mid-February when Abbott Laboratories recalled products and shut down its largest formula plant in Sturgis, Michigan, over concerns about possible contamination after four infants became ill and two died.
Federal regulators have not found a direct connection between the bacteria that contaminated the formulas in the sick infants and the Sturgis plant, but have said it failed to comply with safety and quality practices.
The Food and Drug Administration this week gave Abbott Nutrition, the division that makes baby formula, permission to reopen the Sturgis facility if it takes remedial steps, such as hiring an independent expert to monitor compliance processes. Abbott says it can restart production within a couple of weeks after getting final approval, but that stores won’t receive shipments for another six to eight weeks.
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Source: freightwaves - First US military jet carrying baby formula from Europe to arrive Sunday
Editor: Eric Kulisch