More than 150,000 pounds of baby formula was delivered to Houston, Texas, via Germany by plane Sunday as part of President Joe Biden’s “Operation Fly Formula” to address a nationwide baby formula shortage, KHOU-TV reported.
The amount is enough to provide for 1.5 million bottles.
The shipment will be distributed to Target, Walmart, Kroger, and other retailers across the United States via a Nestle distribution center in Fort Worth, Texas.
The shortage stems from the closure of an Abbott Nutritional formula plant in Sturgis, Michigan, in April after the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to consumers not to use certain powdered infant formula produced there.
The Department of Justice alleged that formula manufactured at the plant was “adulterated because they were made under insanitary conditions and in violation of current good manufacturing practice requirements.”
The FDA in January inspected the facility and identified Cronobacter sakazakii, a bacterium that can potentially cause severe foodborne illness primarily in infants, in the facility and observed significant operational deficiencies.
Biden in May directed his administration to use Defense Department aircraft to pick up formula from overseas that meets U.S. health and safety standards.
Reporting from Newsmax.
