Can
you believe in this! In a very unusual step, Hong
Kong's government has put a limit on purchases of Baby formula by
consumers from shops. It has restricted all customers from purchasing
more than two cans of formula in a day. What is even more surprising
is that those who would be caught breaking the rules, face up to two
years in prison and a $64,500 fine. This unusual step, taken by Hong
Kong Government has been followed by retailers in Australia and the
UK, who are limiting the number of cans of formula that can be sold
to a single customer within a single day. Recently, customs officials
in Hong Kong, arrested five people, who they suspect are part of a
gang attempting to smuggle baby milk formula out of Hong Kong.
The
reason for these strange actions by Governments of these three
countries, which are far flung and not even in vicinity of each
other, happens to be a common one though. It is the insatiable demand
from China for imported baby formula, which is driving markets in
these countries like crazy. Most of the Chinese mothers rarely
breastfeed their babies over long term as they often doubt the
quality of their breast milk. This means that there is a constant and
heavy demand for the baby formula all the time in China. However,
Chinese parents now prefer to feed their baby with an imported baby
formula and not with any of the baby formula made in China. When a
child is born in China, anxious new parents often want one gift above
all others: imported formula baby milk.
Chinese
retailers are also making a fast buck, as price is no issue for new
Chinese parents as far as baby formula is concerned. Taobao, a
popular online retailer in China retails a brand of baby formula
called 'Enfrapro' for approximately US$ 44, when it is retailed in
Canada for just US$ 22, raking in huge profits. Another online
retailer, called 'Sunshine Grass' admit that their warehouse is full
of baby formula! Retailers around the world have now become aware of
the prospect of huge profits available to formula sellers in China
right now and would like to have their own pound of flesh too. Online
retailers have started displaying on their web sites, photographs of
walls of baby formula cans amassed from overseas. However, the main
source of imported baby formula still remains to be the stuff usually
hand-carried from overseas to ensure it's the real thing.
The
reasons for this imported baby formula craze are not difficult to
understand. In 2008,
six infants died of severe kidney damage and an estimated 300,000
babies suffered painful kidney stones after drinking tainted baby
formula. After testing, baby formula from several major Chinese
dairy companies, was found to contain melamine, an additive that
falsely boosts the protein levels in milk. Two Chinese companies,
Mengniu and Ava Dairy recalled baby formula produced by them in
December 2011 and July 2012, because it contained high amounts of
aflatoxin, a carcinogen produced by fungus in cows' feed. Also in
June 2012, another company, Yili Group, gave a recall for its main
line of infant milk powder because of unusually high levels of
mercury found in it.
Besides
baby formula, cases of tainted food products are also being exposed
in China almost on regular basis. In recent years, cases of
bacteria-laden pork that glows in the dark and repackaged cooking oil
siphoned from the gutters outside restaurants have been exposed by
the police and food regulators.
This
has created a kind of a scare and many parents believe that food
products stamped as "Made in China" are unsafe for
children. Parents are fearful of the dangerous levels of hormones and
chemicals sometimes found in Chinese baby formula and are ready to go
to great lengths to secure foreign brands of baby formula.
It is
also true that due to one child rule in force, babies in China are
most pampered and spoiled and are sometimes called as Little
Emperors. Since there is only one grand child for 4 grandparents and
two parents, they all dote and coddle the only child and want to
provide best of everything for the child. They usually pool their
money and scour the globe for safe sources of food for the baby. They
are just not ready to take any risks even if there is only a 1%
chance that Chinese formula is not safe, they would not want to be
part of that 1%.
12
April 2013
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