Baby formula locked up at some London stores as parents recount why thefts can happen

An increasing number of grocery stores in London are locking up baby formula as parents struggle to pay for a food item they say their children can't live without.

CBC News visited several big stores in the east-end of the city, including Food Basics on Oxford Street, where formula was kept behind Plexiglass and required staff assistance to access. 

"It's absolutely disgusting that we've reached a point where people have to resort to stealing to feed their child," said Alyssa Cassidy, a mother who fed her daughter a combination of formula and breast milk at the height of the formula shortage in 2022.

"I think it's classist. If you have the money, then it's not a big deal. For the people who don't, it's just awful and sad."

The average price of baby formula has risen 30 per cent between 2022 and 2024, according to Statistics Canada, more than the price of other food products. London parents told CBC News formula can cost anywhere from $30 to $70. 

"It's been a struggle," parent Stephanie Green said. "You have to sacrifice sometimes, or choose between one child having more or less, even. They (grocery chains) know it's so overpriced that people are going to start stealing it."

Green said between her two children, she goes through a $40 tub of formula in one week by buying a less pricey brand. She said to stretch the food further, she's registered for samples and testers to make her supply last longer.

A spokesperson for grocery giant Metro, which owns Food Basics, said the company has been rolling out equipment to secure baby formula to prevent theft for several years in Ontario.

"You have to put your kids first. If you're not stealing formula, you're stealing food," said Amanda Brasier, a London mother who said her oldest daughter needed specialty lactose free formula, which amounted to $50 per week for just one child.

"I've been put in the situation of formula or bills. It's ridiculous."

Brasier said she's been fortunate enough that she never had to steal formula, and has never stolen, but other mothers tell her they've made the decision to steal for their children when they felt they couldn't afford to live.

Stories like this don't surprise Lesley Frank, the Canada Research Chair in food, health and social justice at Acadia University. She's spent over a decade studying how the cost of baby formula impacts families.

She's tried to make sense of why the prices continue to remain high, but says there is no clear answer.

"Producers would probably blame higher factory costs, ingredient costs, energy costs. We're also reliant on a few international corporations and there's very little market competition," Frank said.