Nestle is airlifting baby formula to the US from the Netherlands and Switzerland amid the crisis as the FDA orders Abbott Laboratories to overhaul its safety protocols before production can restart – a process that could take months.
Abbott, the largest formula supplier in America, hasn’t given a timeline for reopening and stockpiles have been found in migrant camps.
Nestle Switzerland, the owner of Gerber baby food, said it would airlift Gerber Good Start Extensive HA and Alfamino baby formula from its Netherland and Switzerland locations.
The company is prioritizing these formulas to help babies that are allergic to cow milk protein, a spokesperson told Bloomberg.
Nestle and Danone, another Swiss company, both said they were upping production, with Nestle saying its factories are running at capacity to offer more of its product at brick-and-mortar and online stores, as well as in hospitals, Bloomberg reported.
Danone is pushing to increase production further and have offered a list of recommended substitutes on its website to help stressed parents.
‘Our manufacturing facility is running at maximum capacity and we are prioritizing production of our top-selling infant formulas,’ a spokesperson told Bloomberg. ‘High demand has impacted our formula availability.’
Abbott Laboratories, where the baby formula shortage began after being linked to a case of rare bacterial infection, has announced it would re-open a Michigan plant to help with the shortage.
However, the Justice Department announced that in order for the reopening to happen, Abbott must overhaul its safety protocols before production can start – a process that could take several months.
Once Abbott has overhauled its safety protocols and has FDA approval, the formula manufacturer said it could restart the site within two weeks, according to M Live.
If it re-opens, the factory will prioritize EleCare, Alimentum and metabolic formulas and then start making Similac and others.
Once the factory is up and running, parents are expected to start seeing the products six to eight weeks after.
‘Our number one priority is getting infants and families the high-quality formulas they need, and this is a major step toward re-opening our Sturgis facility so we can ease the nationwide formula shortage. We look forward to working with the FDA to quickly and safely re-open the facility,’ CEO Robert B. Ford said in a statement.
‘We know millions of parents and caregivers depend on us and we’re deeply sorry that our voluntary recall worsened the nationwide formula shortage. We will work hard to re-earn the trust that moms, dads and caregivers have placed in our formulas for more than 50 years.’
‘Every step of the way, we have an obligation to watch [and] make sure that the problems have been rectified and that the formula will be safe,’ FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf told the Today Show.
The announcement of re-opening the factory comes as Republican Representative Kat Cammack released a video showing a large stockpile of formula a border center – a move the White House slammed.
The Congresswoman went to border camp after being accused of lying about the photos she was sent by sources showing full shelves of formula at a processing center. After visiting the center herself, she not only found an amass of formula, but other necessary infant supplies littered across the floor of a warehouse.
‘Last week, I received text messages and photos from Border Patrol agents showing a stockpile of baby formula and there was complete outrage from the White House, CNN and other liberal outlets claiming that we were lying, so I decided to go down myself and film it,’ she told Fox Business on Monday.
‘Lo and behold, not only was there stocked warehouses, but there were multiple stocked warehouses that have been not only filled with baby formula, diapers, wipes and clothing, but they have been doing this for months and there’s more en route.’
The GOP has criticized President Joe Biden’s slow response to the formula crisis, which was caused by ongoing supply disruptions and exacerbated by a February safety recall at the nation’s largest formula manufacturing plant.
The outrage at the border stock pile also comes as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans next week to end restrictions, known as Title 42, that have prevented migrants from seeking asylum under US law and international treaty on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Border officials are preparing for surge in the numbers of migrants when the health order expires on May 23.
Cammack argued the shortage is just another example of how Biden is incapable of quickly solving problems confronting the US.
‘This just points again to how out of touch this administration is and they could stop this with a simple policy change,’ she said Monday after sharing the footage she captured at the border facilities.