President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act on Wednesday to immediately alleviate the shortage in baby formula caused by his administration's shut down of a major factory 3 months ago due to FDA concerns about food safety.
The announcement comes as the supply of infant formula across the country has decreased 40% since April, leaving parents of newborns frantic to find food to feed their babies. In addition, Abbott Laboratories announced a Similac recall exacerbating formula shortages in recent months.
Invoking the Defense Production Act means that suppliers will have to fill all orders related to baby formula first, no matter in what order they were received. The FDA has also cleared the opening of the Abbott factory that had been shut down, though the speed with which these measures will see formula return to shelves is dubious.
To address the immediacy issues, baby formula will be airlifted from abroad in Operation Fly Formula, which required the FDA to ease import rules. According to the New York Post,
A loosening of import restrictions could have a significant impact. Currently, about 98% of US-consumed formula is produced domestically.
The White House said,
To speed up the import of infant formula and get more formula to stores as soon as possible, President Biden has directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use Department of Defense (DOD) commercial aircraft to pick up overseas infant formula that meets U.S. health and safety standards, so it can get to store shelves faster.
DOD will use its contracts with commercial air cargo lines, as it did to move materials during the early months of the COVID pandemic, to transport products from manufacturing facilities abroad that have met Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety standards. Bypassing regular air freighting routes will speed up the importation and distribution of formula and serve as an immediate support as manufacturers continue to ramp up production.
The Biden administration continues to face criticism for its response to yet another crisis of its own making, waiting months to address a concern that they were aware of as early as February.
But at least some action is being taken. We can be thankful for that.
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