A Korean War-era
law and ‘Operation Fly Formula,’ are the two weapons deployed by the United
States government to address the nation’s baby formula shortage. Baby formula,
or infant formula, is a mix that is used to feed babies under 12 months as
either a replacement for or a supplement to breast milk.

The US has been
seeing a massive shortage of this mix for months, only exacerbated by the
recall of products by one of the biggest manufacturers of baby formula in the
country.

 “I know parents across the country are worried
about finding enough formula to feed their babies…As a parent and as a
grandparent, I know just how stressful that is,” President Joe Biden said in a
video statement Wednesday.

The Defense
Production Act

His administration
has invoked the Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era law to meet the
growing demand for defence equipment. The Act allows the President of the
United States to direct companies to prioritise supplying products for the
nation’s defense and helps prevent price gouging in times of shortage and
inflation.

The Defense Production Act came into force in 1950 at the start of the Korean War during the Truman administration. 

Biden’s invoking
of the law makes manufacturers deliver key ingredients of baby formula to
manufacturers on priority. The same law was invoked, first by President Donald
Trump and then by Biden for production of COVID-19 vaccines.

Operation Fly
Formula

‘Operation Fly
Formula’ is meant to import baby formula from other nations to the United Sates
via cargo aircrafts under contracts with the Defense department. Only such
formula that meets federal standards will be brought. The operation is meant to
speed up import and provide support to manufacturers until they can ramp up
production, according to a White House statement.

What caused
the baby formula shortage?

A shortage of baby
formula was being reported for months owing to supply-chain deficiencies.
Things worsened quickly after Abbot Laboratories, a company that along with three
others, supplies 90% of US’ baby formula, recalled products after babies
started falling ill after consuming powdered formula from one of its plants.

Abbot Laboratories
shut down the plant, in Michigan, following a federal probe launched to find
why babies who consumed the formula developed bacterial infections. Two of the
four babies who developed bacterial infections died. The company, however,
maintains that there is no link between the formula and the illness.