The price of baby formula has rocketed by over a half - making it a target for black market thieves and hustlers, it is claimed.
Amid the demand, manufacturers have released figures to show that some baby formula products have risen by up to €6 each in a matter of months.
Fed up parents described the soaring prices as “absolutely nuts”.
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They complained that costs jumped by €6 from €11.50 to €17.50 – a 52 per cent hike - in just 18 months.
One said: “I have two children. One who's just turning two and one who is five months old. It would be the same baby formula for both of them.
“It's a huge increase. It's absolutely nuts going from having one to having two kids as well.”
Nestle, which makes SMA powder milk, revealed that some products have jumped in the past year from €14 to over €19, a rise of 33 per cent.
Customers grappling with the cost-of-living crisis are also seeing smaller 11 per cent increases from €18.50 to €20.50.
A mum with a two-week-old baby and a four-year-old child travel across the border to the North for baby formula.
She said: “I go up North because it’s cheaper. I get loads.”
Data analytics company Kantar published stats last month to show that food prices increased by 16.8 per cent during the first three months of this year, adding over €1,200 to households’ annual grocery bills.
The surge in costs has sparked a lucrative illegal trade on the dark web with some baby foods sold at reduced prices online.
Thieves are claimed to be stealing products and then selling them online, with searches for baby formula now generating scores of hits.
A Dublin mother said: “It is all different brands. Some are cheaper.”
Analysts draw a link between the prices and the phenomenal demand for Irish-based baby formula in China.
Ireland produces huge quantities of baby formula with some of the world’s largest companies’ manufacturing plants creating hundreds of jobs here.
Workers at firms like Nestle, Danone, Abbott, and Wyeth produce up to 15 per cent of all the baby formula used by China’s 1.4m population.
Demand in China for baby formula from Ireland began in 2008 when thousands of babies fell ill from domestic formula products that were found to contain toxic chemicals that artificially boosted the milk’s protein count.
There were accounts of Chinese tourists and students packing their cases with baby powder before selling it back home in China for a profit.
International courier FedEx even issued advice, telling fliers they can only carry baby formula to private persons and the quantity is limited to six 900mg tins for personal use and advised them that they had to register as an exporter with the Chinese authorities.
The Irish Multiple Births Association (IMBA) accused some retailers of rationing sales of formula milk in Ireland to service demand in China.
The association claimed that supermarkets limited customers to two tins each and claimed the quotas caused stress for families who have more than one baby.
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