President Biden Announces Sixth Operation Fly Formula Mission
Delta Air Lines will carry more than 3.2 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents of Kendamil infant formula
Today, President Biden is announcing that his Administration has arranged the sixth Operation Fly Formula flight. Delta Air Lines will transport Kendamil formula free of charge from Heathrow Airport in London to Logan Airport in Boston and Detroit Metro Airport between June 20 and June 24.
These Operation Fly Formula flights donated by Delta will contain more than 212,000 pounds or approximately 3.2 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents of Kendamil infant formula and will begin shipping on June 20.
The Kendamil Organic and Classic formula, made available through Operation Fly Formula, will be distributed and available for purchase at select U.S. retailers nationwide, as well as online. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is exercising enforcement discretion so that Kendamil can import infant formula under the Kendamil brand. Kendamil will export up to at least 2 million cans of Kendamil infant formula – the equivalent of at least 54 million 8-ounce bottles to the United States. Parents can learn more about Kendamil infant formula at https://kendamil.com/ and visit the United States website at https://us.kendamil.com/ for updates and information on retail locations.
President Biden launched Operation Fly Formula to speed up the importation of safe infant formula and start getting more formula to stores as soon as possible. Under Operation Fly Formula, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Department of Defense (DOD) are partnering to pick up overseas infant formula that meets U.S. health and safety standards so it can get to store shelves faster. Yesterday, Operation Fly Formula flights landed in Texas with 1.6 million bottle equivalents of Nestlé NAN SupremePro Stage 1 infant formula, and the first shipment of 3.7 million bottle equivalents of Kendamil infant formula landed in Virginia aboard a donated United Airlines flight.
In addition, the Biden Administration has taken a number of other important actions to ensure there is enough safe infant formula for families, including invoking the Defense Production Act, entering into a consent agreement between the FDA to reopen Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis facility, and issuing FDA guidance so that major formula manufacturers can safely import formula that is not currently being produced for the U.S. market.
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