Formula Sold Behind the Counter: How Sad is That?
Apparently professional shoplifting rings have gotten so bad that more and more things have to be locked up. But formula?
Formula is expensive and in great demand, especially in communities where people can’t afford to pay $24 per can. Don’t even get me started, yes I know breast milk is free. I also realize that not everyone is able to breastfeed. These crime rings end up making baby formula more expensive for everyone.
When it is only razors or power tools the behind the counter thing is annoying. When it comes to stuff like formula and teething rings it is just sad.
When my son was young, I went into the local drugstore one day to buy powdered formula, and it was locked up tight right in the aisle (like the more expensive makeup is). It was *only* the powdered though, the condensed and RTF were accessible–I asked at the counter if I could buys some, and making conversation, I asked why the lock & key? According to the manager, it was being stolen for dealers, who’d use it to cutting coke before distributing.
Formula doesn’t necessarily “result” in “sicker and less intelligent children”. Jeez! Yes, breast milk is the best. Its important to spread the word, but don’t exagerate or make up falsehoods. Breast milk does not make for perfect. children. That is simply not, as you say, a truth.
And also, considor Naomi’s point, which is, sadly, all too real.
I do agree that the marketing campaign are way out of control, esp. the distribution of ads and samples in hospitals, doctor’s offices, in the mail, everywhere. But honeslty, I feel that BOTH sides of the breastfeed/bottlefeed debate and marketing scams could use a bit of moral guidance and less false claims and sugarcoating.
I’m torn. On one hand, it *is* sad that busy moms who cannot (or chose not to) breastfeed must talk to someone to feed their babies. On the other, how many of those women would have breastfed if they had all the facts instead of the half-truths the marketing pros at the formula companies?
Why shouldn’t formula be behind the counter? It is a good reminder to mothers that formula is a medical intervention and is not as close a substitute to human breastmilk as we are led to believe.
We usually word things like this: “breastmilk is best” and “babies who breastfeed benefit from more antibodies and higher IQs”. This is sugar-coating the truth. Isn’t it more powerful (and just as true) to say, “feeding your babies formula deprives babies of needed nutrients, resulting in sicker and less intelligent children”?
Sure, most bottle-fed children turn out fine. But it has been proven over and over that there are significant, long-term differences in breastfed and bottle-fed kids. I’m not saying that all women should be forced to breastfeed. I firmly feel it is a woman’s choice. I’m only suggesting that parents should be given real information to make an informed choice – information that does not come from marketers.
The World Health Organization has a code which prohibits marketing of formula through hospitals and directly to mothers so that women can make their own choices based on factual information. In the United States, formula companies completely ignore the code because it isn’t being enforced. Most other countries abide by it.
What IS sad is that women who are forced to work long hours for low pay are often the same women who have to buy expensive formula, because they aren’t with their babies enough to nurse them and may not have time or opportunity to pump at their jobs. Yay, welfare-to-work programs! So they’re screwed, and their kids get less-than-optimal food, and if they’re buying the formula on the black market, part of me feels it’s the least of their troubles.
Um, the formula is not being stolen to feed hungry babies. This article uses the same photo you do, and has some interesting info regarding why the formula is stolen.
Marion Nestle addresses the issue of shoplifting infant formula in her book, What to Eat. Infant formula has a high resale value and is usually stolen to be resold, not by people trying to feed hungry infants.