Illegal for public to distribute formula milk, warns Health Dept

The department says it is also illegal for the public to distribute formula milk.

The unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng has led to an acute shortage of baby formula milk after shops were looted and damaged and roads barricaded, preventing delivery vehicles from using certain routes.

This has led to desperate parents taking to social media and asking for formula milk for their babies, with others heeding the call and vowing to distribute the milk where needed.

Department of Health spokesperson Popo Maja says this is against the law.

“Government has regulatory frameworks for the management of commercial infant formula. It is therefore recommended that infant formula donations should be made through the provincial Departments of Health.

"The provincial Departments of Health will facilitate receipt of the donated infant formula to ensure compliance to the regulatory framework. Donors will then be directed to the appropriate district health personnel for further to supporting of identified non-breastfeeding mothers according to their needs and based on assessment in the current context. 

"This is an interim measure to mitigate the challenge at hand thus this will be reviewed in due course as the situation normalises."

The department has also condemned the use of homemade infant formula which has been shared on social media.

“The department does not support the use of homemade infant formula because it can harm infants. These homemade infant formula recipes might not contain enough or too much of some nutrients and put infants at risk of getting sick and causing diarrhoea."

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