A cargo plane carrying some 150,000 pounds of baby formula landed at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport Sunday morning, part of “Operation Fly Formula” that began in May to speed up imports from overseas.
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Nearly 100 pallets or 10,500 cases of formula were unloaded for distribution nationwide. It's enough to provide more than 1.5 million bottles.
The flight originated in Germany, and the shipment will be distributed by Nestlé to Target, Walmart, Kroger and other retailers across the U.S.
The Department of Health and Human Services says trucks are now driving about 1 million pounds of formula around the country. Cargo flights from Europe and Australia already have brought product into the U.S., and two new rounds of air shipments began this weekend.
The federal government has been trying to make more supplies available as the country has faced supply issues after regulators shuttered a Michigan Abbott plant in February over safety concerns. The plant, the largest U.S. manufacturer of baby formula, reopened June 4 after sanitizing but closed again for cleaning a week ago after severe weather caused damage.
The White House says that it has now brought 32 flights - the equivalent of almost 19 million 8-ounce bottles of infant formula - into the U.S.