Photo from Shutterstock.com

It was recently reported that a man had been arrested for suspected involvement in a series of milk powder theft cases islandwide. It was also understood that he had intentions to resell the stolen milk powder. As would seem to be the observation of that man, is milk powder such an expensive commodity that selling it on the black market would be lucrative?
A one-stop pregnancy and parenting portal in Singapore, Babyment, collected data earlier this month about the price hike of formula milk in Singapore, and noticed the increase in price when compared with data collected in December 2012.
The portal, which advocates and promotes breastfeeding, also observed that the price of formula milk sold in Singapore was much higher than similar brands sold in Malaysia and China, with two products selling at a price that is more than double that of similar brands in Malaysia.
To protect and promote breastfeeding in Singapore, the Ministry of Health (MOH) established the Sale of Infant Foods Ethics Committee, Singapore (SIFECS) in 1979. This committee formulated and implemented the Code of Ethics on the Sale of Infant Foods in Singapore, noting that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding (that is the infant only receives breast milk without any additional food or drink, not even water) for the first six months of life.
Under the Code of Ethics, companies that sell or market formula milk are subjected to fairly stringent terms and conditions to ensure that mothers are not persuaded to rely on these products to provide nutrients for their infants.

  1. Price of formula milk in December 2012 and March 2017*

Tables below show the price per 100 grams of baby milk powder by stage:

On average, the price of baby milk powder sold in Singapore has increased by 26.8%. The smallest increase is seen in Enfa products by Mead Johnson (21.3% for stage 1, 20.7% for stage 2 and 22.3% for stage 3) while Nestlé’s Nan H.A. products show the greatest increase (39.3% for stage 1, 37.1% for stage 2 and 34.7% for stage 3).
Manufacturers claim they have made improvements to the formula milk sold in Singapore in the last 4 years. These include the Similac and Enfa series of products by Abbott and Mead Johnson respectively.

  1. Price comparison with China and Malaysia *

Tables below show the cost per 100 grams of baby milk powder in Singapore, China and Malaysia by stage.

According to the data collected, baby milk powder sold in Singapore is more expensive than those sold in Malaysia, with two brands (Similac stage 3 and Friso stage 3) selling at a price that is 2.2 times of similar ones in Malaysia.
Baby milk powder in Singapore is in general more expensive than similar brands in China except for the Nestlé Nan H.A. series.
Products sold in different countries may differ in terms of nutrition level due to different food regulatory requirement by the country’s governing authority.
*All data is computed based on selling price of a can of formula milk that has a net weight of milk powder of 800g to 900g.
Data collection and verification
All data on baby milk powder sold in Singapore was collected through personal visits to NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage supermarkets. In general, there is no price difference for all baby milk powder in Singapore among major supermarkets like Fairprice, Cold Storage, Sheng Siong and Giant.
The majority of data on prices of formula milk in December 2012 (except stage 1 formula) can be verified through another independent database owned by Babyment. Through this database, Babyment shares with its visitors the latest promotions in baby milk powder.
Wyeth (S26), Nestlé (Nan H.A.), Abbott (Similac), Dumex (Mamil), Mead Johnson (Enfa) and Friso have official stores in e-commerce platform www.jd.com in China and the original selling price of products sold in those official stores was used in the comparison.
Wyeth, Dumex and Nestle Nan have official stores in e-commerce platform www.lazada.com.my and the original selling price of products sold in those official stores was used for these brands. For other brands sold in Malaysia, the average prices from two supermarkets Tesco and Jaya Grocer were used.
Exchange rate used in computation: SGD : RMB = 1 : 4.94 and SGD : RM = 1 : 3.17. The company in its calculation followed the rate quoted on 20 March 2017 at google.com.sg
Notes and explanation on the data
Not all formula milk products sold in Singapore are included in Babyment‘s data collection. In 2012, stage 1 formula sold by Mead Johnson was called Enfalac, stage 2 Enfapro, and stage 3 Enfagro.
China and Malaysia have been chosen for comparison due to similar products sold in those two countries. Names of the products may be slightly different. For example, in Malaysia, the stage 1 formula by Mead Johnson company is called Enfalac, instead of Enfamil.

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

中国前国务院总理李鹏逝世

中国前国务院总理李鹏,于北京时间2019年7月22日晚间11时11分辞世,享年91岁。 据新华网报导,李鹏生于1928年10月,四川成都人,1945年11月加入中国共产党,1948年被安排到苏联求学,此后历任总工程师、发电厂长、北京电业管理局长、电力工业部部长等职,协助推动中国的电站建设和电力生产,“我国电力工业的杰出领导人、核电事业的重要开创者。” 1987年11月,李鹏在六届全国人大常委会第二十三次会议上被任命为国务院代总理。1988年4月,在七届全国人大一次会议上被任命为国务院总理。 而新华网报导:“1989年春夏之交的政治风波中,在以邓小平同志为代表的老一辈无产阶级革命家坚决支持下…,采取果断措施制止动乱,平息反革命暴乱(意指六四事件),稳定了国内局势,在这场关系党和国家前途命运的重大斗争中发挥了重要作用。” 1989年5月19日,在六四事件前夕,李鹏在电视上发表措词强硬的“5·19讲话”,称 “改革开放和四化建设,人民共和国的前途和命运,已经面临严重的威胁”,并指要“旗帜鲜明地制止动乱”,讲话引起首都大学生不满。5月20日,李鹏以总理身分签署国务院令,决定自5月20日起在北京部分地区戒严。 李鹏在结束2届总理任期后,于1997年连任中央政治局常委,在党内的地位仅次于时任中央总书记的江泽民。2003年3月,74岁的李鹏卸任常委,淡出政坛。 李鹏在六四后继续担任政治局常委和总理。他在任期内领导中国的水利工程建设,更成为饱受争议的三峡工程的最大推手。 1992年,人大会议以1767票赞成、177票反对、664票弃权、25人未按表决器的结果,通过李鹏兴建三峡工程的提议。通过票数之低历史罕见,但工程仍于次年开工。

Catered food for migrant workers has "improved" despite teething issues in the beginning, says Minister Zaqy Mohamad

The inter-agency task force has served out more than 10 million catered…

打击全岛毒贩 肃毒局四日逮94嫌犯

中央肃毒局指出,在本月4日至8日期间展开的全岛逮捕行动中,一共逮捕了94名涉及滥用毒品的犯罪者。 肃毒局于上周五(11月8日)发出文告,指出在逮捕行动中一共取获了314克的冰毒、18克大麻、384克海洛因、498颗摇头丸、652颗埃利敏5号,以及40克的新化合致幻药(New Psychoactive Substances)。 逮捕行动涵盖的区域包括了宏茂桥、武吉巴督、武吉班让、裕廊、巴西立、信佳、中峇鲁、兀兰和义顺一带。 女嫌犯当时带着三幼童 文告中指出,肃毒局在本月4日的一起案件中,官员在裕廊西91大道带了一名47岁的女子,怀疑她涉嫌毒品贩卖。 当局指出,在该案件中起获两包冰毒,怀疑属于该女嫌犯。 “嫌犯被逮捕时,身边带着三名幼子,包括她代为照顾的一名一岁大女婴、其六岁的孙子和五岁的孙女。该一岁大女婴随后交还给其生母。” 但是,肃毒局多次尝试联络另两名孩子的母亲未果,唯有将他们交给家庭及社会发展部旗下的儿童福利部。 疑毒品交易逮四人 上周三(11月6日)晚上,当局在另一起发生于Jalan…

High time for tech firms to “take some responsibility” for the spread of “fake news”: Senior Minister Edwin Tong

In an age where fake news and disinformation appear to spread like…