US takes humanitarian aid from Europe

A first shipment of baby milk powder arrived in the United States on Sunday by military cargo plane from Europe. The shipment is part of an airlift that US president Joe Biden has opened to address the large shortage of baby milk powder in his country.

The U.S. government allows the powdered milk to fly on commercial aircraft hired by the military.

“Bypassing regular airfreight routes will accelerate the import and distribution of baby milk powder and serve as an immediate support as manufacturers continue to ramp up production,” the White House said.

The first plane with more than 35,000 kilograms of baby food on board landed in the US city of Indianapolis on Sunday. According to the US, that’s enough to fill about half a million bottles.

Many parents in the U.S. are getting it wrong lately when they look in the store for baby milk powder. Among other things, the shortage arose after a recall and closure of a plant in Michigan of the company Abbott, the largest supplier of baby milk powder in the US. That happened after reports of bacterial infections in four babies. global supply problems due to the corona pandemic subsequently exacerbated the shortage.

Abbott CEO Robert Ford apologized for the deficit in an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Sunday. He writes that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found no link between the sick children and the baby milk powder from the Michigan plant, but that evidence has been found for the bacteria in the agent.

Ford said the plant would reopen in the first week of June. After that, it takes about six to eight weeks for the milk powder to be in the shops again.