President Biden Announces Third Operation Fly Formula Mission
United Airlines will air ship approximately 3.7 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents of Kendamil infant formula
Today, President Biden is announcing that his Administration has arranged the third Operation Fly Formula flight for the first shipment of Kendamil infant formula entering the United States. United Airlines has agreed to transport Kendamil formula free of charge from Heathrow Airport in London to multiple airports across the country over a three-week period. These are the first Operation Formula Flight to be donated by an airline carrier.
These Operation Fly Formula flights donated by United Airlines will contain over 300,000 pounds or approximately 3.7 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents of Kendamil infant formula and will begin shipping on June 9. These flights will contain approximately 3.2 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents of Kendamil Classic Stage 1 and 540,000 8-ounce bottle equivalents of Kendamil Organic.
The Kendamil formula available through Operation Fly Formula will be distributed and available for purchase at selected US retailers nationwide, as well as online. This first shipment, which includes Kendamil Classic and Kendamil Organic formula, will be available at Target stores across the country in the coming weeks. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the agency is exercising enforcement discretion so that Kendal Nutricare can import infant formula under the Kendamil brand. Kendal Nutricare has announced that they will export up to 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 import of infant formula and start getting more formula to stores as soon as possible. Under Operation Fly Formula, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are authorized to use Department of Defense (DOD)-contracted commercial aircraft to pick up overseas infant formula that meets U.S. health and safety standards, so it can get to store shelves faster. To date, Operation Fly Formula has brought in the equivalent of 1.5 million 8-ounce bottles of infant formula to the U.S.
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.
Kendamil Classic First Infant Milk 900g / 31.7 oz.
Kendamil Organic First Infant Milk 800g / 28.2 oz.
Kendamil Goat First Infant Milk 800g / 28.2 oz.
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