First wave of baby formula shipments arrive in the U.S.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - It has been going on for several weeks now as the crippling shortage of baby formula nationwide continues to leave many families desperate to find food for their infants.

Signs of good news arrived on Sunday as a military plane landed in Indiana carrying thousands of pounds of formula from Germany.

This shipment of formula is earmarked for babies at hospitals, home health care facilities, doctors and pharmacies.

The shipment is believed to contain 78,000 pounds of formula, which could take care of 9,000 babies and 18,000 toddlers for one week.

The formula will be distributed across the country in waves.

The first batch was manufactured by Nestle, which claims the formula has been tested and will be sent to hospitals and healthcare providers within a few days.

From there, Nestle will dispense it to families that need it.

Nestle confirms the rest of the shipment will be tested and sent out in the next two weeks.

Tennessee ranks as one of the states getting hit the hardest by the shortage and many are asking if the government could have done more, beforehand.

“No, I don’t think it’s the US government that dropped the ball,” said Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture. “I mean, certainly I can speak for USDA, we moved it as expeditiously and quickly as possible. I think that the key lesson for us learned from the pandemic, and this is that efficiency is certainly important.”

Another 114 pallets of Gerber Good Start Extensive H/A formula are set to arrive in the coming days and will be trucked to Pennsylvania.

There is another company, Reckitt, that’s also filing paperwork to allow it to be able to import baby formula from its manufacturing plants in Singapore and Mexico.

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