Danone Supports American Families by Bringing Additional Baby Formula and New Online Resource

-          Introduces Pepticate and Pepticate Syneo, specialized medical formulas, to the U.S.
-          Company's total supply of baby formula nears 1.9 million cans of product

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. and BROOMFIELD, Colo., Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Danone North America, the purpose-driven food and beverage leader, today announced alongside its Specialized Nutrition business, Nutricia, it will introduce a new specialty medical baby formula, to the U.S. market this Fall. Continuing its efforts to help families navigate the baby formula shortage, Danone has also launched an online website, https://operationformulaforfamilies.com, that will serve to connect parents with helpful resources.

Danone and Nutricia have coordinated with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bring Pepticate and Pepticate Syneo to the United States. The company plans to import 50,000 cans of Pepticate and 24,000 cans of Pepticate Syneo, equivalent to more than 930,000 full-size, 8-ounce bottles, from its facility in the Netherlands.

Pepticate is an extensively hydrolyzed, whey-based medical formula for children with cow's milk allergies. Pepticate is nutritionally complete for infants from 0 to 1. For babies with food allergies, hypoallergenic formulas such as Pepticate are oftentimes their main source of nutrition and can play a critical role in their development.

Over the course of the next several months, Pepticate and Pepticate Syneo will be available through medical and retail channels including national and regional home healthcare state and government programs such as USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), MMCAP (state GPO), Medi-Cal and Tri-Care as well as several wholesale outlets and pharmacies.

Shane Grant, CEO at Danone North America, said: "Danone teams around the world have come together, harnessing our global capabilities to support babies and families at a critical time. Together, we have been able to not only increase the supply of formula in the U.S. and provide families with important resources, but also introduce two new products to market, Aptamil and now Pepticate, to help meet this urgent need. This continues to be a powerful example of our mission in action – to bring health through food to as many people as possible."

Based on Danone's expertise of more than 50 years in breastmilk research, the company believes breastfeeding offers babies the best nutritional start in life. However, if parents choose not to or cannot breastfeed, baby formulas like Aptamil, Neocate and Pepticate are high-quality, safe alternatives. To further help parents and families navigate the formula shortage, Danone North America developed a new online resource, https://operationformulaforfamilies.com. The website contains educational resources, product information on its portfolio of baby formula, as well as product locators and access to healthcare and nutrition professionals.

Dr. Jon Vanderhoof, Chief of Pediatric G.I. at Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, NE said: "Danone North America's new Formula for Families hub will serve a critical role by helping to connect parents and caregivers with formula products, raise awareness for available options and provide educational resources from credible experts. This website coupled with Danone's efforts to increase the availability of formula in the U.S. is truly essential in a time filled with uncertainty for so many families."

To date Danone has committed to bringing nearly 1.9 million additional cans of formula to the market, including:

• Introduced more than 750,000 cans of Aptamil, Europe's number one formula brand, into the U.S., available on shelves now, with another 550,000 cans on the way (facilitated in part by the Biden Administration's Operation Fly Formula), for a total commitment of more than 1.3 million cans of Aptamil;
• In coordination with the FDA and the Biden Administration's Operation Fly Formula, imported more than 500,000 cans of Neocate, a specialized medical baby formula, to the U.S.;
• More than doubled its imports of Neocate prior to the FDA's enforcement discretion.

Danone North America is a purpose-driven company and an industry leader in the food and beverage category. As a Certified B Corporation®, Danone North America is committed to the creation of both economic and social value, while nurturing natural ecosystems through sustainable agriculture. Our strong portfolio of brands includes: Activia®, DanActive®, Danimals®, Dannon®, evian®, Happy Family® Organics, Honest to Goodness®, Horizon® Organic, International Delight®, Light + Fit®, Oikos®, Silk®, So Delicious® Dairy Free, STōK®, Two Good®, Wallaby® Organic and YoCrunch®. With more than 6,000 employees and 16 production locations across the U.S. and Canada, Danone North America's mission is to bring health through food to as many people as possible.  For more information on Danone North America's B Corp™ status, visit: https://bcorporation.net/directory/danone-north-america.

Since 1896, Nutricia has pioneered nutritional solutions that help people live longer, more joyful and healthier lives. Building on more than a century of research and innovation, Nutricia has harnessed the power of life-changing nutrition to create a leading specialized nutrition portfolio that can change a health trajectory for life.

With its nutritional solutions, Nutricia supports healthy growth and development during a baby's first 1,000 days and helps to address some of the world's biggest health challenges, including in North America: faltering growth, food allergy, rare metabolic diseases, epilepsy and wound healing.

As part of Danone North America, Nutricia embraces the company's "One Planet. One Health" vision reflecting that the health of people and the health of the planet are interconnected and therefore seeks to protect and nourish both.

Media Contact:
Karissa Seltz
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SOURCE Danone North America