A planeload of over 31 tonnes of milk powder destined for the U.S. market arrived on Sunday in the United States, hit by a severe shortage of baby food, Belga News Agency reports, quoting U.S. TV channels.
Shortly before the plane’s arrival from Germany, U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Twitter that a plane “loaded up with more than 70,000 pounds of infant formula” was “about to land in Indiana.”
White House Economic Adviser Brian Deere explained that the flight had left the Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Saturday night, carrying infant formula produced by Nestlé. More milk powder would be delivered on other flights early next week, he added.
For weeks now, the United States has been facing a shortage of infant formula caused by supply and labour problems linked to the Coronavirus crisis and exacerbated by the closure of an Abbott factory in Michigan following the recall of products suspected of causing the deaths of two infants.
Deese deplored the fact that the factory “did not follow the rules” and manufactured formula that risked making babies sick.
The Washington Post on Saturday reported Abbott CEO Robert Ford as apologizing for the shortage affecting thousands of U.S. families for whom finding milk for their babies has become a nightmare.
