Biden announces fifth baby formula mission, shipment to come from Germany

President Biden on Monday announced a fifth mission to bring infant formula to the U.S. from overseas, with the most recent shipment arriving from Cologne, Germany.

The shipment of Nestlé infant formulas will be transported to Fort Worth, Texas, on June 9. The products will be distributed through Nestlé and Gerber distribution channels, according to the White House, with additional deliveries expected to be announced in the coming days.

The delivery will include 110,000 pounds of Nestlé NAN SupremePro Stage 1 infant formula as well as roughly 1.6 million 8-ounce bottles.

Previous deliveries of infant formula have been sourced from the United Kingdom and Australia.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement that “HHS is working around the clock to ensure that parents have the formula they need to feed their infants. We will continue to pursue all available options until we have fully restored the infant formula supply in the U.S.”

A memo released from the White House on Monday stated that infant formula sales had gone up in recent weeks, rising by 24 percent from last year.

The most recent in-stock rate, the measure of how available a product is for sale, is 74 percent, according to the White House. Before the recall of infant formula by Abbott Nutrition, which largely contributed to the nationwide shortage, in-stock rates were around 88 to 90 percent.

“Lower in-stock rates combined with higher sales volumes suggests products are quickly sold when available and that some stores have been able to match their inventory levels with expected sales, while others have struggled,” the White House memo said.