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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Sunday that there is currently no timetable for when parents can expect baby formula to be back on shelves after President Biden last week’s commitment to the Defense Production Act (DPA ) to address the nationwide shortage.
During a press briefing aboard Air Force One en route to Tokyo, where Biden will attend a meeting with the “Quad” alliance, Jean-Pierre was asked by a reporter when parents in the US are “trying to get baby formula “. can find something.
“Look, you know, the President — you know, you heard us say this: The President understands the struggle of mothers and fathers and parents and caregivers and making sure that — you know, making sure that we’re getting — a kid has, you know, a healthy — a healthy — a healthy way of eating,” Jean-Pierre replied, according to a White House memo. “A healthy formula is – and safe – and safe formula – is our top priority, which is why we’re – you know, why we’ve been very, very aware of the process that we put in place with the transition and also the DPA.
“I don’t have a schedule for you yet,” she continued. “We want to exp– you know, make sure it’s very quick because it’s so critical. And we know what – what families go through. I – but I don’t have a precise schedule. Sure – sure, we want this to happen as soon as possible, as quickly as possible.”
BIDEN USES DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT, ‘OPERATION FLY FORMULA’ TO ADDRESS SHORTAGES
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Jean-Pierre’s response comes amid a massive nationwide baby food shortage that has sent several babies to the hospital after Abbott Laboratories announced a Similac recall earlier this year.
According to Datasembly, the retail price data website, the US baby food out-of-stock rate reached 43 percent in the week ended May 8, leaving many parents across the country desperate to find food for their babies.
On Wednesday, Biden announced he would call the DPA to address the shortage, allowing him to order manufacturers to ramp up production as well as launch a new program, Operation Fly Formula, to import infant formula to accelerate.
Baby food shortages have left empty shelves across the country. (Fox News Digital)
Jean-Pierre said Sunday that as part of the new program, a military plane carrying 78,000 pounds of special infant formula, “enough for over half a million bottles,” will arrive in Indiana on Sunday.
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“This formula was manufactured in an FDA-approved facility and, like all food imports, is inspected upon arrival,” she said. “We are prioritizing this for first shipment because this type of formula has a critical medical purpose and is in short supply in the United States as a result of the Abbott Sturgis plant closure.”
“It normally takes two weeks to ship this product from Europe to the US,” she said. “Thanks to Operation Fly Formula, we’ve cut that down to about three days.”