Biden dismisses the idea that his administration should have acted sooner on baby formula shortage

 (CNN) - President Joe Biden on Friday defended the White House's response to a months-long shortage of infant formula in the United States and dismissed the idea that his administration should have acted sooner, saying they "moved as quickly as a problem became apparent to us."

Following remarks in the White House Rose Garden, Biden pushed back when asked if the administration should have reacted faster to shortages of baby formula nationwide, telling CNN's Jeremy Diamond, "If we'd been better mind readers, I guess we could have."

The President later said resolving the issue requires that the federal government "move with caution as well as speed," adding that it was important to "make sure what we're getting is, in fact, first-rate product."

The Biden administration announced additional efforts to address the shortage this week, but American stores have had a hard time keeping baby formula in stock for months due to a recall, inflation and supply chain problems.

Manufacturers have said they are producing at full capacity, but it's not enough to keep up with current demand.

US grocery store shelves had even less infant formula last week than they had the week before, according to a new report from Datasembly, a real-time data tracking agency that gauges how much product is available.