The first shipment of baby formula under President Joe Biden’s “Operation Fly Formula” initiative landed in the U.S. on Sunday; the airlift totals 78,000 pounds and will provide enough food to fill more than half a million baby bottles. The delivery of Nestlé formula—which was trucked from Switzerland to Germany and then flown to Indianapolis—is the first of multiple flights expected this weekend, which will import three different types of formula from Europe. All are hypoallergenic for children with cow’s milk protein allergy. All told, enough formula to fill one and a half million eight-ounce bottles is scheduled to arrive in the U.S. this week. According to the director of the White House National Economic Council, Brian Deese, the first shipment brought in 15 percent of the specialty medical grade formula needed. Referencing the closure of a formula manufacturing plant in Michigan that has exacerbated the national crisis, Deese specified that the U.S. needs to invest in more formula suppliers in the long-term “so that no individual company has this much control over supply chains.”
Folks, I’m excited to tell you that the first flight from Operation Fly Formula is loaded up with more than 70,000 pounds of infant formula and about to land in Indiana.
Our team is working around the clock to get safe formula to everyone who needs it. pic.twitter.com/cX4KU0eDtZ
