A shipment of 44,000 pounds of baby formula arrived at UPS in Louisville Thursday, the latest in a series of deliveries to help alleviate the nationwide shortage.
The shipment was announced by the White House earlier this week and is the seventh in ‘Operation Fly Formula.’
The delivery of formula from Switzerland is enough for 548,000 eight-ounce bottles. It was the first shipment in collaboration with UPS.
The project is an effort by federal agencies to pick up infant formula from overseas that meets U.S. health and safety standards.
The goal is to distribute it quickly to stores, hospitals and WIC programs, which provide nutrition for low-income Women, Infants and Children.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear issued an executive order last week declaring a state of emergency over the baby formula shortage that has impacted the nation and the commonwealth.
The governor’s order activates state price-gouging laws, which aim to protect families seeking to purchase formula from the predatory pricing that can occur when supplies are limited due to high demand.
The current baby formula shortage is mainly attributed to the lack of supply after an Abbott production plant in Michigan was shut down earlier this year when the FDA began investigating bacterial infections in four babies who were fed the formula.
The Michigan facility restarted production two weeks ago, then had to shut down again this week after heavy rains caused flooding at the plant.
