Tins of formula are being stockpiled in Australia to send to China fuelling a shortage, but what’s even more worrying is what happens after they get there. Picture: Lawrence Pinder
AUSTRALIAN made baby formula has become one of the country’s most coveted exports to China, but disturbingly, empty tins that once held the product are almost as valuable to Chinese counterfeit sellers, news.com.au can reveal.
Alongside the grey market that has led to a mass shortage of the product as Chinese “daigou” or personal shoppers bulk-buy the products to ship overseas and resell via social media, a market has emerged for empty tins branded with the trusted Australian labels.
A Chinese reseller operating in Australia has revealed their clients in China have been offered cash for empty Bellamy’s and A2 formula tins after they have been used — the goal of the buyer being to refill the tins with another formula and onsell the counterfeit product.
Chinese digital marketing expert Ben Sun from Think China said the recycling of cans was common in China, and was a driver of the demand for products being shipped from Australia.
“In Australia, when we buy something like baby formula, we take for granted that what we’re buying is what the product is going to be, but in China, all the trust is gone,” he told news.com.au.
“I don’t think this is happening in Australia but within China, they take the empty cans, put another formula in, and sell them for cheaper as if it’s the real product.”
Shelves are being cleared of baby formula, much of it to be sent to China, but even those exporting it don’t know where it ends up after that.Source:Supplied
Senior lecturer in nursing and midwifery at RMIT University, Dr Jennifer James, said the alleged practice could have serious consequences.
If trusting parents duped into buying an inferior product masked as a premium brand baby formula and fed it to their babies, the health risks would be huge.
“Contamination would be an obvious risk,” Dr James said.
“Even in the sealed tins we have it’s not a sterile products so contamination can happen. Of course when that tin’s been opened and resealed it’s open to contamination to nasty bacteria which is particularly nasty for vulnerable premature and sick babies. The other (risk) would be what is this white powder that they’re being served?”
Dr James said despite being marketed differently, most baby formula powders were very similar, but recycling tins potentially allowed resellers to supply mothers with contaminated or foreign product.
“Mothers will do whatever they can to get what they believe is best for their baby. The reality is it’s very poor women who are very vulnerable to buying something that’s going to be cheaper, but still believing that they’re buying a genuine product.”
News of the practice has come as a shock to Australian formula makers who sell and aggressively market their products in China.
A spokesman for A2 told news.com.au while the they were not aware of the practice, the A2 Milk Company would be confident the Chinese authorities would be effectively policing the sale of counterfeit products. Bellamy’s refused to provide comment over the concerning issue.
Demand for genuine formula for Australia has sparked a lucrative underground exporting trade.Source:Supplied
Mr Sun told news.com.au many Chinese parents were aware of attempts by counterfeit sellers to pass off dodgy products as the real thing. With little trust in Chinese retailers and local food safety standards, many now prefer to source their infant formula from Australia, fuelling the lucrative daigou trade.
Australian daigou shipping their product to China have taken to including dated receipt from well known retailers like Woolworths or Chemist Warehouse with their purchases, or even copies of the day’s local newspaper to prove where it had come from and when it had been sent.
Posting on an online forum, a Sydney-based exporter said he signed all his tins before sending them out after being told by clients they had received cash offers for their empty cans.
“I am doing it for all the formulas we post to China. I have to say that I sign more signatures that most celebrities,” the now deleted post read.
Do you know more? Email elizabeth.burke@news.com.au
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