By ANEEKA SIMONIS
BABY formula is continuing to be swiped from Cardinia Shire shelves at alarming rates, leaving mums and bubs lost for options as tins are sent to a lucrative Chinese market.
The crippling global shortage – mainly impacting brands such as Karicare – is a result of bulk-buyers reselling the trusted formula for profit in overseas markets such as China following the horror death of six babies in 2008 due to melamine poisoning by locally produced formula.
A further 300,000 babies became ill as a result of the wide-spread contamination scandal.
The Gazette visited seven Cardinia Shire formula suppliers, finding bare shelves dotted with out-of-stock labels printed in English and Chinese.
All but one of the stores, which included Coles, Woolworths and a number of pharmacies, have strict purchase limitations in place to help spare tins for Aussie mums in need – however the crackdown has done little to stop supplies being shipped overseas.
eBay sellers who manage to get their hands on the in-demand formula are making large profits, with a six-pack of tins targeted toward Chinese mothers fetching up to $330.
Most pharmacy suppliers queried by the Gazette, including Advantage Pharmacy in Lakeside Shopping Centre and United Discount Chemist at Pakenham Market Place, allow a maximum of two formula tins per customer.
Coles has also cracked down on bulk-buyers, lowering its purchase cap to two tins per customer while Woolworths stores suffering with the demand can impose four tin restrictions at their own discretion.
Tickets notifying customers of the restriction, printed in English and Chinese, apologise to parents “with a genuine need for baby formula” – describing the demand as “unprecedented”.
Pakenham mother of three Hayley Ayerst said she has a lot of trouble tracking down her five-month-old baby’s preferred formula.
“I had to stock up the other day when I saw some on the shelves. Four tins lasts me between three to four weeks,” she said, adding she would have to consider swapping her son’s formula for a less in-demand brand if the shortage continues.
In October last year, a Gippsland dairy plant signed on to produce and export large quantities of milk formula to Chinese parents in response to the growing demand.
Minister for Agriculture and Food Security Peter Walsh said Burra Foods dairy processing plant in Korumburra was undergoing a $22 million expansion to help meet the demand as well as take the pressure off local supplies for Aussie parents.
“The expansion has also helped Burra Foods produce a new range of infant formula, largely for export, highlighting the importance of growth markets such as China and South-East Asia,” he said.
