By Jarrett Renshaw
(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday will convene a virtual roundtable with producers of infant formula to get updates on the industry’s efforts to ramp up supplies to address a national shortage.
The U.S. has been dealing with a baby formula shortage due to a February recall at Abbott Laboratories and pandemic-related supply-chain issues, prompting Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act to ensure manufacturers have the necessary supplies for baby formula production.
Global companies that make baby formula have delivered products to the U.S. after health regulators relaxed import policies to address the shortage.
The manufacturers at the roundtable include ByHeart, Bubs Australia, Reckitt Benckiser Group, Perrigo Company and Nestle SA’s Gerber, according to the White House.
Many U.S. parents rely on baby formula. Fewer than half the babies born in the United States were exclusively breast-fed through their first three months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2020 Breastfeeding Report Card.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Leslie Adler)
