A plane from Germany with more than 31 tons milk in baby powder landed in the United States this morning, Sunday May 22nd, a country suffering from serious shortages according to images broadcast by local television stations.
President Joe Biden had just announced on Twitter: “A plane loaded with more than 70,000 pounds (more than 31 tons, NdE) of formula milk (…) is about to land in Indiana.”
“A flight took off overnight from Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, filled with baby milk powder, and will land in Indiana on (Sunday) morning,” the economic adviser told the White House, Brian Deese, on the CNN channel.
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The aircraft carried the Nestlé branded product. Other shipments of milk powder “will arrive” on other flights earlier in the week, he added.
The United States has been suffering from infant milk shortages for several months, caused by supply and labor issues related to COVID-19 and exacerbated by the February closure of an Abbott company’s Michigan factory after some of its products were related until the death of two babies.
Biden last Wednesday, May 18, announced two measures to supply the market due to the shortage of baby milk.
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First, it authorized the Defense Ministry to use its contracts with commercial airlines to import milk powder from around the world, which it will do with the 1.5 million bottles stored in Switzerland.
Second, Biden invoked a Cold War law to speed up production of these dairy products in the United States.
The law Biden is invoking is the so-called “Defense Production Act,” which dates back to the start of the Korean War in 1950 and allows the US President to mobilize private-sector resources through the Pentagon to address specific situations to react.
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In recent weeks, finding powdered milk for babies has been a challenge for parents across states across the country, an issue that has become a throwing weapon between Republicans and Democrats.
The shortage was caused by global supply issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and difficulties at Abbott’s manufacturing facility in Sturgis, Michigan, the largest US infant formula maker.
Inventory problems worsened in February, when Abbott recalled formula foods leaving its Michigan facility, marketed under the brand names Similac, Alimentum and EleCare, after four babies contracted a bacterial infection and two died.
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Abbott said this week that it has reached an agreement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reopen its Michigan plant soon.
With information from EFE and AFP.