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The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

nytimes.com

51–60 of 88 posts

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#52

Genuine question: Is living in America as horrible as it sounds for the average, non-rich citizen? Impression I get from the media: * Education sets you in semi-if-not-permanent debt. * Housing is impossibly expensive. * Single hospital visit can be thousand of dollars. * Critical medication is hundreds of dollars a month (or more). * Unpaid, (effectively) mandatory overtime. * Many people work several jobs (as adult…

Please don't take HN threads into nationalistic flamewar. We don't want that here. More generally, please don't take HN threads on generic ideological tangents. They lead to extremely repetitive discussion (the opposite of what we want on this site), and usually turn nasty if not outright hellish.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#53
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you definitely have the wrong idea. About 20% of Americans do live in extreme economic precarity. But things are not out of a horror movie. That’s in fact why there hasn’t been a violent revolution, things aren’t bad enough here (yet?).

> 20% of Americans do live in extreme economic precarity > That’s in fact why there hasn’t been a violent revolution You're being sarcastic, no? A fifth of the people are living in extreme economic precarity. Your Capital was stormed by terrorist from your own country. Widespread policy brutality lead to protests over the entire country, culminating in city blocks being burnt down in what, a dozen cities?

It's bad enough that you started a nationalistic flamewar, but pouring fuel on the flames like this is seriously not ok. Please don't do it again, regardless of which country you have a problem with or indeed whatever the flamewar might be about.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Edit: I'm happy to see that you haven't made a habit of posting like this to HN—your previous comments have been excellent. Please do that and not this.

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#55

My son had a bad reaction to regular formula, so we're stuck with using Enfamil Nutramigen. It's about $44 a can at Target or Walmart, and he goes through just over a can a week. I've went on their website and mailed in the slip to get coupons, but they never send us any for this particular formula, just the other varieties. They are fairly valuable coupons, so we give them friends who can use them. We are fortunate…

Sign up for Target Circle and use the Target card - 5% back by default and they OFTEN run a "buy two formula, get a $10 gift card" deals. Keep an eye for those.

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#56
post #7
post #2

I remember baby formula from Amazon arriving with the tamper seal opened. I immediately realized what happened. Someone purchased baby formula, used it, filled it with powder, sold it at the Amazon market place, and then Amazon shipped it to me (Amazon thought the tampered product was indistinguishable from its factory purchased products). I stopped ordering anything food related from Amazon. Pay attention to the tam…

That's terrifying! You would think such an issue would be worthy of a major investigation, what would happen if a baby lived on that powder for weeks?

Yeah, that's should be something along the lines of:

* Fraud: Selling a product not as advertised

* Tampering: Selling a product with the tamper seal broken

* Intent of causing bodily harm to newborns

Yeah that should give a nice little jail sentence lol. If this doesn't warrant an investigation then I don't know.

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#57

My son had a bad reaction to regular formula, so we're stuck with using Enfamil Nutramigen. It's about $44 a can at Target or Walmart, and he goes through just over a can a week. I've went on their website and mailed in the slip to get coupons, but they never send us any for this particular formula, just the other varieties. They are fairly valuable coupons, so we give them friends who can use them. We are fortunate…

Same situation with my young one. Nutramigen worked great but caused runny poops. We went with HiPP HA Combiotik which really improved our baby's skin.

It's also a little cheaper than Nutramigen, especially if you buy in larger quantities (8-12 boxes at a time).

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#58
post #8
post #2

I remember baby formula from Amazon arriving with the tamper seal opened. I immediately realized what happened. Someone purchased baby formula, used it, filled it with powder, sold it at the Amazon market place, and then Amazon shipped it to me (Amazon thought the tampered product was indistinguishable from its factory purchased products). I stopped ordering anything food related from Amazon. Pay attention to the tam…

No the lesson is don’t order food products from Amazon! Order them from Target which has a far more controlled supply chain.

More generally don’t purchase anything that gets absorbed into your body from Amazon. That’s food, creams, gels, toothpaste...

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#59
Some years ago, I noticed at my supermarket, that the baby formula was kept under lock and key, next to the cigarettes. I asked myself: "Now who's going to steal baby formula, when anybody who can't afford it is probably on assistance." Then I read this article.

Re: The Baby-Formula Crime Ring (2018)

#60
So the government does its thing via WIC and distorts the market. The price goes up as the price-sensitive portion of the market disappears. Why wouldn't crime take advantage of this?

Alternative restated question: where are the competitors working to lower the price in a functioning economic dynamic? Enjoying the profits of a distorted market.

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