The mayor of the city of New York, Eric Adams declared a state of emergency this Sunday due to the shortage of infant formula both in the metropolis and throughout the country.
Given the lack of supplies – for which the president of the United States, Joe Biden, ordered the start-up of an international operation to transport the product from Europe- the mayor has given permission to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to avoid disparity and price increases.
“The shortage of infant formula across the country has caused unimaginable pain and anxiety for New York families, and we must act urgently,” Adams said in the statement, collected by CNN.
The mayor estimated that over 40% of retailers have run out of stock and prices are hovering between €12 and €20 per can depending on location, depending on the chain.
President Biden ended up invoking on Wednesday a special production law to increase supply in the midst of an almost complete breakdown of the distribution chain.
Supplies from Europe
Between the pandemic and the closure in February of a huge Abbott laboratories plant, one of the main producers of formula, due to an investigation into the infections that four babies began to suffer after ingesting their product, hundreds of American families have been left without access to milk.
Biden has also authorized the Department of Defense to use commercial aircraft to airlift formula supplies that meet federal standards from abroad, in what the White House calls Operation “Fly Formula”.
The first plane with 30,000 kilos of baby formula destined for the United States left this Saturday from the Rammstein air base in Germany, at the beginning of the emergency plan approved by the White House to solve the shortage.
In the last hours, the president has announced the preparations for a second flight to transport Nestlé’s special infant formula to Pennsylvania.