Kankakee Times

Illinois State Rep. Jackie Haas (R-Kankakee) recently offered some advice to her constituents to avoid scams during the current baby formula shortage.

According to FOX 32 Chicago News, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is taking action to help Illinois residents to avoid being scammed as they search for formula to feed their children. 

"The baby formula shortage continues to impact families across Illinois," Raoul said, according to Fox 32. "On top of the stress of locating formula, people must also be on the lookout for scammers looking to take advantage of families’ desperation," Raoul said. "I urge anyone affected by this shortage to be vigilant for potential scams that could result in financial losses or – more seriously – the inadvertent purchase of unsafe products."

Haas took to Facebook to offer advice as well. 

"Scammers are trying to take advantage of families as the nationwide baby formula shortage continues," Haas wrote in a May 24 Facebook post. "Research the business selling the product before you make a purchase. Consider how you are being asked to pay. For instance, credit cards provide the strongest protections, while payment methods of gift cards, money transfers or cryptocurrency are indications of a scam. Be cautious if you discover no indication of a brick-and-mortar address or if the address appears on a Google map as a parking lot, residence or business unrelated to what is listed on the website. Misspellings, grammatical errors, or other deceptive language that is inconsistent with the product is often a sign of a scam."

On May 25, USA Today reported that the FDA has admitted their regulators did not act quickly enough to respond to the shortage that has parents and caregivers of infants scrambling to find formula to feed their children. FDA's timeliness in interviewing a whistleblower and getting into the Abbott facility for inspections was "too slow," Dr. Robert Califf said. "Some decisions in retrospect could have been more optimal."

According to The Center Square, 43% of baby formula supplies were out of stock across the country, although there has been a bit of light on this situation. Baby formula from Europe has been flown to Indiana.

"It is no small feat that this plane filled with formula arrived today,” U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Twitter. “Typically, the process to transport this product from Europe would take 2 weeks. Thanks to Operation Fly Formula, we cut that down to merely 3 days.”