Over 4.8M cans of kosher baby formula being shipped to US: FDA

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a shipment of more than 8.5 million pounds of kosher baby formula from the U.K. as officials try to ramp up imports from overseas.

The more than 4.8 million cans of Global Kosher's Kendamil First Infant Formula with Iron will be shipped to the U.S. over multiple months to ease the pain felt by parents and caregivers who have been struggling to feed their children due to a nationwide shortage of baby formula. 

The company will immediately ship 25,000 cases, or 150,000 cans, followed by another 200,000 cases, or 1.2 million cans, per month afterward, according to the FDA.  

BABY FORMULA PRODUCTION HALTED AT ABBOTT'S MICHIGAN PLANT DUE TO FLOODING AFTER SEVERE STORMS

In May, the FDA said it was streamlining its review process to make it easier for foreign manufacturers to begin shipping more formula into the U.S. while the nation continued to battle the ongoing shortage. 

The out-of-stock rate for baby formula products rose to more than 73% nationwide for the week ending May 29, according to the most recent data from Datasembly. 

BABY FORMULA OUT-OF-STOCK RATE INCREASED TO OVER 73% NATIONWIDE BY END OF MAY

"The agency is leveraging a number of flexibilities to bolster the supply of products that serve as the sole source of nutrition for many infants while ensuring the infant formula can be used safely and provides adequate nutrition," the FDA said. 

Meanwhile, a major storm last week forced Abbott Nutrition to pause production at its Michigan baby formula factory again. 

The company restarted the facility on June 4 after being closed for several months due to contamination issues following 

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The company expects production and distribution to be delayed for a few weeks as it cleans the plant.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.