Baby Formula Hot Item On Black Market

SAN DIEGO -- At the price of $10 to $13 a can for a three-day supply, high-quality powdered baby formula is becoming hot on the black market.

In fact, the Food Palace Market on National Avenue in the Mountain View area of San Diego recently moved their most expensive baby formula from the shelves to a display case because so many cans were being stolen.

Other stores have also put baby formula under lock and key, San Diego TV station 10News reports.

"This type of formula has a black market for it. There's a team of people that go from store to store, stealing any way they can ... even women with baby strollers," said Reginald Gates, security manager for Food Palace.

Gates told the TV station that he caught a woman leaving the store with a twin baby stroller. There were no babies in the stroller; instead, there were six cases of formula worth $500.

"This stuff is called white gold," Gates explained. "The baby formula on the street is highly profitable and highly marketable."

And the baby formula is being stolen not just by the can, but by the case.

According to the TV station, the thieves usually aren't parents trying to feed hungry babies, but addicts who resell it to feed drug habits, or to satisfy simple greed.

Black marketeers will also cover cheaper baby formula brands with counterfeit labels from expensive brands.

"When people go in and purchase one type of formula and in fact it's something else, there can be problems with allergies and serious health problems for a baby, particularly if they're a high-risk baby in the first place," said Sarah Larson of San Diego's Women, Infant and Children Program.

Larson coordinates one branch of WIC, a federal nutrition program for women, infants and children. WIC provides monthly formula vouchers.

Larson said that one reason baby formula is so expensive is because it's one of the most regulated foods by the Food and Drug Administration. It's the primary source of nutrition for most of the 4 million babies born in this country each year, so it's in constant demand.

Larson advised consumers to make sure the label on a can of formula matches the name stamped on the bottom, while also checking the lot number and date.

Meanwhile, investigators have even uncovered an international baby formula cartel. Last year, authorities in Texas arrested 14 people from the Middle East who were allegedly involved in stealing and re-packaging powdered formula with counterfeit labels.