Empty shelves show a shortage of baby formula at the Target store in San Antonio, Texas, May 10, 2022.
Kaylee Greenley Bill Reuters
FedEx Express signed a government contract to supply another batch of baby formula to the U.S. on Wednesday, NBC News reported.
The Express plane will fly from Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany to Dulles International Airport near Washington, DC. It is unclear how many formulas the plane will carry.
The move is designed to address a critical shortage of baby formulas in the United States after leading formula manufacturer Abbott Laboratories closed the plant following reports of bacterial infections in four infants.
Ebat said it would take about two weeks to rebuild the plant and up to eight weeks for the products to hit shelves across the country. This has left a big gap for dozens of parents across the country.
In an effort to alleviate the burden, the Office of Food and Drug Administration is increasing imports of infant formulas from other countries. The first batch of 78,000 pounds of special baby formula arrived on Sunday.
President Joe Biden also used the Defense Manufacturing Act to increase the production of infant formula. His administration is seeking to put on the shelves 1.5 million containers of Nestle’s special baby formula.
