About a million more bottles of baby formula landed in the United States from Europe on Wednesday, the second government-sponsored delivery of formula from overseas as the Biden administration works to address an urgent shortage of infant and toddler food that has left parents scrambling all over the country.
First Lady Jill Biden and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy greeted the military-contracted plane at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, as it delivered more than 100,000 pounds of hypoallergenic Nestlé Gerber Good Start formula.
“As a mom and a nana, it's impossible to hear the stories of children suffering and not imagine your own children in the same position,” Dr. Biden said Wednesday.
“There's more to do. We know that. Joe knows that,” she added. “These shipments are only one part of the strategy. I'm here today to say to parents: You aren't alone.”
The bottles will be inspected and distributed from Nestlé’s factory in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Another 500,000 8-ounce bottles of formula had already landed in Indiana for distribution on Sunday.
It’s one of the Biden administration’s efforts to boost supply of formula amid the ongoing shortage. They also invoked the Defense Production Act to speed up production for manufacturers.
Meanwhile, top food safety officials and baby formula manufacturers testified on Capitol Hill on Wednesday about their own efforts, including the president of Abbott Nutrition’s North America division, Christopher Calamari.
The shutdown of Abbott’s Michigan facility in February exacerbated the formula shortage, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found unsanitary conditions there. Calamari said he expects that facility to restart production in the first week of June, with formula reaching shelves six to eight weeks later.
In a message to parents, Calamari said the company promises to test formula at its Michigan plant before, during and after production, “exceeding regulatory requirements.”
“You either don’t have the product you need or are having trouble getting it,” Calamari told parents. “We know we let you down. We are going to do everything we can to re-earn your trust.”
The head of the FDA also testified on Wednesday that his agency was “too slow” to respond to a whistleblower complaint sent in October detailing safety concerns at the Abbott Sturgis factory.
“FDA’s timeliness of interviewing the whistleblower and getting into the facility for a ‘For Cause’ inspection were too slow, and some decisions in retrospect could have been more optimal,” he said.
In prepared testimony, FDA officials provided a timeline of their agency’s response. While regional and lower level officials received the Oct. 21 complaint within days or weeks, it did not reach the acting commissioner, Janet Woodcock, or other key officials until early February. The whistleblower was interviewed in late December, but the facility’s inspection didn’t begin until Jan. 31.
“I'm not sure why the report wasn't shared with me and how it didn't get escalated,” said Frank Yiannis, deputy commissioner for food policy and response, on Wednesday. “We're going to try to get to the bottom of it.”
The FDA chief on Wednesday said his agency and the Biden administration were now working daily with baby formula makers to boost imports and production.
But in the meantime, he said, parents may still have to make an effort to look for what they need.
“Families should not be searching for formula, but they have to do it now until we fill in,” Califf said. “Several weeks out, we’ll have a surplus of formula. When I say several, I can't say exactly how many weeks.”