Pasteleosa: White House announces import of baby formula from Australia

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The White House announced that 1.25 million cans of baby formula will be headed to the United States from Australia beginning in the coming weeks and months.

In an announcement made on Friday afternoon, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that the shipment, manufactured by Bubs Australia, will arrive in the United States "in the coming weeks and months."

The total shipment is equivalent to 27.5 million full-size, 8-ounce bottles of baby formula, according to the FDA, and contains "several varieties" of baby formula such as "stage 1 and 2 cans of Bubs Organic Grass Fed, Bubs Supreme A2 Beta-Casein Protein and Bubs Easy-digest Goat Milk."

The announcement comes amid a deepening baby formula shortage within the United States, with the out-of-stock rate for baby formula rising to 70% nationwide for the week ending May 22, compared to a 45% out-of-stock rate for the week prior.

BABY FORMULA SHORTAGE: OUT-OF-STOCK RATES SURGE TO 70%

Shelves typically stocked with baby formula sit mostly empty at a store in San Antonio, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. Parents across the U.S. are scrambling to find baby formula because supply disruptions and a massive safety recall have swept many leading (AP Photo/Eric Gay / AP Newsroom)

The nationwide baby formula shortage has escalated recently due to a voluntary recall by Abbott Nutrition of specific powdered formulas that were made at its Sturgis, Michigan, facility after four complaints that four babies who consumed products made from the plant got sick with a bacterial infection, and two of them died.

ABBOTT RECALLS SIMILAC, OTHER BABY FORMULAS AFTER 4 REPORTED ILLNESSES

A due to limited supplies sign is shown on the baby formula shelf at a grocery store Tuesday, May 10, 2022, in Salt Lake City. Parents across much of the U.S. are scrambling to find baby formula after a combination of supply disruptions and safety re (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer / AP Newsroom)

Abbott Nutrition said in a statement on May 11 that it could be months before stock from its Sturgis, Michigan plant will reach store shelves after a voluntary recall forced the company to cease operations at the facility. The plant originally closed in February. Abbott has said none of the infant deaths have been linked to any product made at the Sturgis plant.

The plant is expected to restart production on June 4 and is projecting that products from the plant will not be on store shelves until at least mid-July.

When questioned by U.S. House lawmakers on Wednesday, he apologized for the disruption but avoided answering questions about the Sturgis plant.

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