President Biden applied the Law on Defense Production to cope with the shortage of baby food that has arisen in the country.
On Sunday, a military cargo plane landed in Indianapolis with the first batch of infant formula from Europe.
Recall that an acute shortage of infant formula arose in the United States due to the fact that on February 17, the leading manufacturer of baby food Abbott Laboratories recalled its products and closed the plant in Sturgis, Michigan.
A senior administration official noted the importance of supplies from Europe, stressing at the same time that there is still a lot of work to be done to resolve the crisis.
“This is an important step, but it is far from the only step that needs to be taken. We will continue to work in accordance with the president’s instructions and look for all opportunities to increase supplies,” said Agriculture Minister Tom Vilsack, who welcomed the plane upon arrival.
“This particular mixture is intended for a very, very small percentage of children. Approximately 17,000 children in the country will mostly receive this particular mixture,” Vilsack said.
Last week, Biden invoked the Defense Manufacturing Act to help boost supplies.
Nestle said that new shipments will be delivered in the coming days.
Abbott, the largest supplier of powdered infant formula in the United States, closed its plant in Michigan after reports of bacterial infections in four infants, exacerbating a shortage among several manufacturers that began due to supply chain problems due to the pandemic.
On Sunday, the company’s CEO Robert Ford apologized for the shortage and promised to fix the situation, adding that the plant will resume work in the first week of June, and it will take six to eight weeks for the products to hit store shelves.
