Biden says 33 million more baby formula bottles headed to US

President Biden on Friday announced his administration had secured 33 million bottles of safe infant formula from Nestlé. In an announcement via Twitter, the president shared that, “over 127 million bottles of safe infant formula are heading to U.S. shelves as soon as possible.”

The announcement comes amid a baby formula shortage stemming from a Michigan plant closing over contamination concerns.

The Biden Administration has taken other actions in response to the shortage, including invoking the Defense Production Act, creating a consent agree with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reopen Abbott Nutrition facility, and issuing FDA guidance to import formula that is not being produced in the United States. 

On Thursday, the White House launched a new website that tracks the actions the administration is taking to get more baby formula to shelves. The administration had previously launched Operation Fly Formula Mission, to airlift formula from Europe and Australia to further combat the shortage.

The administration announced a third and fourth wave of the Operation Fly Formula Mission that will begin shipping formula next week. Federally chartered planes are bringing millions of bottles of the popular United Kingdom brand, Kendamil. In addition to Kendamil, the airlift will import several million units of Bubs Australia formula.