Cumbria-based producer Kendal Nutricare is to send “about two million cans” of infant milk formula to the US under what the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) said on Tuesday were “all-of-government efforts” to ensure supply after months of shortages.
CEO Ross McMahon said Kendal was “ready to act” in helping to tackle American formula shortages, though he stressed supplying to the US “won’t have an effect on business in the UK”, where Kendal the sole domestic producer of note and where it makes around half its worldwide sales.
“The urgency of the situation and scale of the US opportunity will justify Kendal Nutricare doubling our capacity for Kendamil by 2024, increasing British dairy exports from Cumbria, creating more local jobs and providing long-term security for British dairy farmers,” he added.
The widely-reported shortages of forumla in the US follow the February withdrawal from shelves of product made by Abbott Laboratories, due to health and safety concerns over bacteria found at its factory in Michigan.
According to the FDA, Kendal “currently has over 40,000 cans in stock for immediate dispatch and the US Department of Health and Human Services has initiated conversations to evaluate options for getting the products to the US as quickly as possible”.
The FDA added it had “reviewed applicable information relating to certain Kendamil products and, based on the information provided, does not have concerns that the products can be used safely and that they provide adequate nutrition”.
McMahon said Kendal, which makes its formula using locally-sourced milk, had been gearing up to export to the US since 2017 and had hired a sales manager for the market.
“There has always been an interest in the US in buying European-sourced products,” McMahon said, citing the stateside market success enjoyed by his Irish compatriots at Kerrygold.
Kendamil’s English packaging and “fully nutritionally-compliant recipe (including iron levels) ensured the brand was fast-tracked relative to other European brands”, the supplier added in a separate statement.
While the US “normally produces 98% of the infant formula it consumes, with the primary source of imports coming from trading partners in Mexico, Ireland and the Netherlands”, according to the FDA, attempts to source more foreign-made formula have in recent weeks been stepped up – including by deploying the US Air Force to transport consignments.
Abbott, whose CEO this month apologised for the shortages in an article published by The Washington Post, said it had also been importing formula made in Ireland to help alleviate the shortage in the US.
“We have increased the volume of infant formula powder produced at our FDA-registered facility in Cootehill, Ireland and have air-shipped millions of cans into the US,” an Abbott spokeswoman said.
“Our Cootehill team sources ingredients from approximately 1,000 dairy farms in the local area. Following stringent quality and safety processes, each batch of infant formula undergoes extensive quality checks before it reaches stores,” the spokeswoman added.
Nestlé and Danone also make infant formula at factories in Ireland, though a Nestlé spokeswoman said the company was “not exporting Irish-made formula to the US”.
Nestlé had by May 24 “sent approximately 1.5 million eight-ounce bottles” to the US from other manufacturing facilities, according to a statement published on the Nestlé website
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