White House declares baby formula from Australia will be imported

Beginning in the coming weeks and months, 1.25 million cans of baby formula will be shipped from Australia to the United States, according to the White House.

The consignment, manufactured by Bubs Australia, will arrive in the United States “in the coming weeks and months,” according to a statement released by the US Food and Drug Administration on Friday afternoon.

According to the FDA, the whole cargo equates to 27.5 million full-size, 8-ounce bottles of baby formula and includes “several varieties” of baby formula, including “stage 1 and 2 cans of Bubs Organic Grass Fed, Bubs Supreme A2 Beta-Casein Protein and Bubs Easy-digest Goat Milk.”

The statement comes as the United States faces a growing baby formula scarcity, with the out-of-stock rate for baby formula jumping to 70% nationally for the week ending May 22, compared to 45 percent the week before.

The nationwide baby formula shortage has escalated recently as a result of Abbott Nutrition’s voluntary recall of specific powdered formulas made at its Sturgis, Michigan, facility following four complaints that four babies who consumed products made at the plant became sick with a bacterial infection, two of whom died.

After a voluntary recall caused Abbott Nutrition to suspend operations at its Sturgis, Michigan plant, the firm announced in a statement on May 11 that it might be months before goods from the facility reaches retailer shelves. The factory had previously been shut down in February. No product created at the Sturgis plant has been linked to any of the newborn deaths, according to Abbott.

The plant is expected to reopen on June 4th, but products from the plant are not expected to hit shop shelves until at least mid-July.

He apologised for the disruption but avoided answering questions about the Sturgis facility when questioned by US House lawmakers on Wednesday.