Baby formula shortage: Scams and other unsafe solutions to avoid

As the nationwide baby formula shortage continues, parents and caretakers are struggling to find what they need to safely feed their babies and infants — and scammers are out in force to take advantage.

Though the Biden administration has taken steps in recent days to address the shortage, including invoking the Defense Production Act and allowing the U.S. to accept formula from overseas, it still could be several weeks before store shelves can be restocked with formula and meet demand.

In the meantime, parents searching for alternative ways to obtain formula should be aware that they may run into scams, and that there are unsafe solutions that they should avoid.

“Parents of infants in North Carolina are struggling to feed their babies during the current baby formula shortage,” the North Carolina Attorney General’s office said in a consumer alert Wednesday. “But instead of helping parents in this perilous position, scammers are looking to take advantage of this crisis to steal a quick buck.”

To help parents and caretakers navigate the shortage and possible scams, we’ve compiled tips from the state Attorney General, plus more tips on what not to do during the shortage.

Here’s what to know.

How to avoid baby formula scams

The North Carolina Attorney General’s office offered the following tips for how to avoid scams during the baby formula shortage:

▪ Avoid buying formula from auctions, unknown sellers or overseas sellers. Scammers may post fake products online to try to steal your money, the office said.

On a related note, you may have seen posts on social media about buying formula on Amazon, but switching your location settings to Canada instead of the U.S. PolitiFact has reported that the trick actually doesn’t work, unless you find a third-party seller on the site that will ship the package directly to you — and even then, medical experts warn against doing so, because you could be getting an unsafe product.

▪ Look into sellers before you buy from them. The Attorney General’s office recommends looking up formula sellers online to see if they have bad reviews. You can also look up a seller through the Better Business Bureau, or call the N.C. Attorney General’s office at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.

▪ Do not buy someone’s homemade infant formula (or make your own). Homemade formula recipes are not evaluated by the FDA and may lack necessary nutrients or have unverified ingredients, the office says.

“Please, and I can’t stress this enough, do not make baby formula at home,” one Duke doctor previously told The News & Observer.

▪ Use a credit card to make purchases. Paying with credit cards is helpful in case you need to dispute the transaction later, the Attorney General’s office says.

▪ Don’t fall for scammers pretending to be from a government agency. Scammers may contact you, either at your home or by phone, and ask to collect recalled baby formula — then the scammer takes the formula to a store to collect a refund. You can check product recalls on the manufacturer’s website and if your product is recalled, take it back to the store and collect the refund yourself.

▪ Watch out for price gouging. During shortages, sellers might raise the price of in-demand products — but they can’t “take advantage of the shortage and sell baby formula products at egregious or unreasonably excessive prices,” the Attorney General’s office says. If you see a price that seems too high, whether at the store or on Facebook or other online selling platforms, you can report it to the Attorney General’s office online at ncdoj.gov/gouging or by calling 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.

How to report a baby formula scam in NC

If you believe you have been a victim of a scam, or you see one that’d you’d like to report, you can file a complaint with the N.C. Attorney General’s office online at ncdoj.gov/file-a-complaint or by calling 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.

Other tips for what not to do during the formula shortage

In addition to looking out for scams, there are other tips and solutions you should avoid during the formula shortage in order to keep your children safe.

The N&O has previously reported that parents and caretakers should not:

▪ Make homemade baby formula. Formula is highly regulated and has very specific formulations that make it safe for infant consumption. With homemade formula recipes, there’s no quality control to ensure the formula is safe or that it has the appropriate nutritional balance for the baby. This includes homemade formula with goat’s milk and honey, which is a popular recipe floating around on the internet.

▪ Dilute baby formula. It might be tempting to ration and stretch your baby formula, but the nutritional balance of the formula needs to be maintained so your baby’s body can process it correctly.

▪ Use expired baby formula. Beyond the “use by” date on formula, the nutrients in the formula will begin to degrade, Benjamin Chapman, a professor and food safety extension specialist at NC State University, told The Bump, a website for parents.