W4C Voices: 2 myths that perpetuate locking baby formula away from shoppers and parents
2 myths that perpetuate locking baby formula away from shoppers and parents
Cindy Dashnaw
Nonprofit Storyteller & Content Strategist
Cause Communications LLC
August 11th, 2024
Politicians, store owners, law enforcement personnel and the media all perpetuate the myths that shoplifters and drug dealers force store owners to lock infant formula in cabinets instead of placing the product on open shelves. But an overwhelming amount of research has proven that beliefs are misguided. The practice only makes getting formula to infants more difficult than it should be―and ignores the real problems within the U.S. baby formula industry.
Let’s debunk these myths and see why retailers should give up their locked baby formula cabinets.
Myth 1: Baby formula is one of the most shoplifted grocery items. Stores must lock it up or risk losing too much money.
First, some background: Formula has been “caged,” in retail parlance, since long before the pandemic in 2020, but news coverage about formula hoarding and shortages peaked in 2022 when the FDA closed down a major manufacturing plant for health reasons. Since just three companies dominate the U.S. baby formula market and the affected company fed 40% of the market, this action significantly impacted supply. National out-of-stock rates for formula exceeded 90% (CATO Institute). Meanwhile, WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children) has long restricted the formula producers with which states can contract―and approves only one per market―so WIC vouchers couldn’t be used to purchase any other brands except the one permitted by the state’s program.
So, with a perceived threat of desperate parents willing to steal to feed their kids, out came more and more locked cabinets―and the idea that shoplifting infant formula is rampant has become pervasive.
Yes, formula does get shoplifted. Indiana has had a few incidents, including an incident where a police officer on the scene admitted it was his first “baby formula theft” but felt free to expound on how its high price leads to theft and resale. Yet, formula isn’t shoplifted as much as a slew of other items that aren’t locked up, and we should be skeptical of any ‘most shoplifted items’ lists because retailers are hesitant to report specifics.
However, contrary to what gets news coverage, shoplifting is going down, not up. The Council on Criminal Justice recently examined trends in 24 cities and found that, when they excluded data from New York, the number of shoplifting reports was 7% lower in 2023 than in 2019.
Retailers are far more damaged by organized crime theft than consumer shoplifting, and even then, the National Retail Federation’s list of “Most Frequently Targeted Items by ORC [Organized Financial Crime] Groups” names baby formula 68th, far behind such things as over-the-counter medicines, connected technologies, office printers, etc.
In its 2021 Retail Security Survey, the NRF said that 69% of retailers reported an uptick in ORC activity since 2020, due in part to crime rings’ ability to easily sell stolen goods online. Still, ORC thefts are virtually unaffected by locked cabinets, and 93% of retailers support federal legislation to address ORCs instead of locks. From the NRF to a U.S. House committee in 2023: “Shoplifting one or a few items for personal use … is very different from organized retail crime. … These social challenges deserve an empathetic solution.”
Myth 2: Drug dealers steal baby formula off store shelves to augment their drugs.
A story about “an international scheme to smuggle drugs inside baby formula cans” showed up in the Los Angeles Times in 2001 and is still recalled today, probably because the thieves paid individuals to use infants and strollers as transport. This year, the DEA charged two dozen people in a separate investigation involving drugs and (for some) baby formula that has been in the news since it began in 2018, leading many to think they’ve heard separate but similar stories for six years.
I could find no other stories on the DEA’s website about rampant use of baby formula by drug dealers. When I contacted the press office for more stories, they said, “DEA is responsible for enforcing laws and regulations under the Controlled Substances Act. Our agency does not regulate baby formula and therefore is unable to assist with your request.” My follow-up question to this confusing reply has yet to be answered.
In a Google search for “baby formula and drugs,” I found that most stories simply quote ill-informed sources or skip citing sources altogether.
For example:
● FBI: A February 2007 FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin quotes the Christian Science Monitor as its source (!) of a story from the 1990s in Texas about organized gangs paying people with addictions to steal baby formula, then reselling it to other stores. The bulletin quotes the same source for another Texas story about finding infant formula inside a van driven by a terrorist later linked to a nationwide theft ring.
● Alabama, 2006: Police detained a “Hispanic” man at a traffic stop for a “sagging trunk.” They found baby formula and brought in drug-sniffing dogs because formula, said the deputy chief of police, “is mixed in with the meth so it looks more like the meth and they can sell more of the meth; When dogs found no traces of drugs, he said, “There could have been a residual odor there, but nothing was found.”
The headline for this non-story? “Baby formula and meth.”
● Philadelphia, 2017: The media quoted a local DEA spokesperson as saying, “There are other food substances that can be used for [cutting drugs], like protein and vitamin powders that are cheaper [than formula]. The real value to drug addicts in baby formula is that it can be resold to support a habit.” I’ve seen no medical research supporting this assertion, and it doesn’t explain why formula would be better than the cheaper powders. But his words paint a memorable picture. Still not convinced? Imagine this: You’re a mom or dad who has to load their 2-year-old daughter and infant son into the car in February to go pick up formula (you can’t stock up because of WIC limitations or the expense of the product). Once you arrive and get the kids out of the car and into the store, you find that formula is in a locked cabinet; hopefully you’ll just have to find an employee instead of standing in the customer service line behind the person who returns 18 items every week―and pray they won’t have to page the manager. A quick trip to the store with a baby and a toddler can turn into a 30-minute ordeal.
The bottom line: Evidence doesn’t support claims that infant formula should be locked away from parents.
Focusing on the myths of shoplifting and drug dealers obfuscates the real problems with the U.S. infant formula market: special interests that drive overregulation, import constraints and limits on which companies get WIC’s business. I hope to address those issues in another post. The saddest result of all, of course, is the impact on the mothers and fathers who just want to feed their babies, the people who comprise the vast majority of why we create and sell infant formula in the first place.
Cindy Dashnaw is a nonprofit storyteller & content strategist for Cause Communications LLC
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