A military aircraft arrived in Indiana with over 70,000lb of formula amid an ongoing shortage
The US military has flown a C-17 aircraft loaded with 70,000lb (31,751kg) of Swiss Nestle baby formula to Indianapolis from Ramstein Air Base in Germany, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told reporters on Sunday. The shipment is part of Operation Fly Formula, the Biden administration’s new program aimed at addressing the massive baby formula shortage currently gripping the US.
Speaking to reporters at Indianapolis International Airport, Vilsack praised the delivery, which he said could “take care of 9,000 babies and 18,000 toddlers for a week.” A total of 1.5 million 8-ounce bottles of formula are expected to arrive in the next week.
The US Food and Drug Administration announced it would temporarily allow imports of baby formula from foreign producers on Monday in an effort to ameliorate the shortage, which kicked into high gear in February after already-extant Covid-19 supply chain issues were compounded by bacterial contamination at the country’s largest formula maker, Abbott Labs.
The Biden administration has also invoked the Defense Production Act in an effort to bolster the availability of ingredients needed to produce the formula.
While the Department of Justice has since reached a tentative agreement with Abbott to resolve those contamination issues, even if the FDA gives the company the go-ahead to resume manufacturing, it is expected to take from eight to 10 weeks to address the shortage domestically.
Prices of the precious commodity have increased as well, with the cost increasing as much as 18% in the previous year, according to CBS News. However, inflation in general has soared to near-record levels in the US, and most food items and commodities like gasoline are selling for higher prices than they were last year.
RT (Russia Today) is a state-owned news organization funded by the Russian government. The information provided by this news source is being included by the Libertarian Hub not as an endorsement of the Russian government, but rather because it is being actively censored by Big Tech, Western governments and the corporate press. During times of conflict it is imperative that we have access to both sides of the story so we can form our own opinions, even if both sides are spewing their own propaganda. The censorship of RT, despite likely being a propaganda outfit for the Russian government, reduces our ability to hear one side of the conflict. For that reason, the Libertarian Hub will temporarily republish the RSS feed from RT. Visit https://rt.com
