britinchina

Hi all,

I'm based in China and want to import baby formula from the UK for my daughter and soon to be born 2nd child.

1. Does anyone have any good suggestions for websites or companies that can help to import baby formula from the UK or indeed from other countries (US, Canada, Australia, NZ, Holland etc)?
2. Can anyone recommend a baby formula brand other than Aptamil and Cow & Gate for a 2.5 year old baby? My wife and I don't 100% trust the cow's milk in China. Better safe than sorry right.

I used to order from one of the expat food websites like britishonlinesupermarket.com but now you can only order a maximum of 2 cartons of formula from them. With the cost of shipping this will work out quite expensive.

Moreover Danone are stopping to manufacture baby formula for 2-3 year old children. Danone own both Aptamil and Cow & Gate. See article below:
http://www.aptaclub.co.uk/baby-milks...ty-site-update

Any help and advice would be much appreciated!

Thank you very much.

Supernoodles

Are you near to HK?
Most parents with this fear will go to HK to buy the stuff, if they are able to.

britinchina

Thanks for the heads up, but we are in the North of China I'm afraid.
You can only take two cans of baby formula out of HK now anyway.

If anyone else has any websites that you can order formula from in decent quantities or any other suggestions it would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Supernoodles

I saw in another thread you used to live here, do you have any friends here that could post them to you? HK post is very cheap fortunately. Although I am unaware of whether this is legal, I assume so.

Vexcore

Why not go to MYKAL ? they have imported stuff best supermarket in china

i go there all the time.

also im curious what citizen is your baby ? British or chinese? if they're british? i assume you went to british embassy consular birth registration ?

britinchina

Thanks for the suggestions Vexcore.

But my wife and I are worried about buying baby formula in China whether is says imported on the carton or not. As there are lots of fakes. See link below for one example:

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/artic...ormula-shelves

If possible we would like to buy from abroad to be certain the formula is safe.

Our daughter was born in HK so currently only has her HK Passport. We haven't needed to get her a British Passport yet as we will probably stay in the Mainland for a few more years.

Not sure yet what we will do about the 2nd baby when he or she is born. There are loads of differing viewpoints on the subject about which ID/Passport is best to have for children with one Chinese and one foreign parent.

winston_1

So, what is wrong with breast milk as God intended?

britinchina

".......for a 2.5 year old baby? "

The wife did breastfeed for over a year but now our daughter is almost three years old.

An update for people about what possible solutions we have found regarding this issue. Hopefully it will be useful to other expats:

1. We can buy imported Korean milk from the small supermarket downstairs where we live. The brand is called Yonsei and is not cheap at about 3 quid for a litre but is worth it for the peace of mind. Several of the Chinese Mothers in my daughter's kindergarten also give this to their children. Others give baby formula and plan to continue until about 6 years old!

2. Japanese brand of milk (Asashi) tastes good but is made in China. I've heard there are a number of Japanese staff at their factories to ensure the quality...but who knows..

3. Simply get family or friends to post cartons of baby formula to you or bring it with them when they visit you. Obviously if you return home bring a spare suitcase and stuff it with as many cartons as you can fit in!

4. Online expat websites used to be reasonably priced but since the new laws in HK restricting the purchase of baby milk powder the costs have gone a bit crazy. In case you haven't already found this link see below a list of a dozen or so online expat shops - many of which offer baby formula. Double check both the cost of postage and the maximum no. of cartons you can order from each company before deciding which one you will use.
http://britishexpats.com/resources/s...ide/index.html

5. Risk buying baby formula in supermarkets or baby shops in China. There are again two main options here.
a) 100% imported formula - which is 30 pounds+ a carton. I have seen the Wyeth brand quite a lot.
b) Foreign brands of baby formula - the contents have been imported but they have been packaged in the mainland. Due to the various scandals option b) again seems a tiny bit risky but who knows if the so called 100% imported formula is really 100% imported!

Excuse my cynicism but I've lived in China for 5 years, speak the lingo fluently and have a Chinese wife so I know a bit about the place.

Hope this helps other people.

Mipik

Nestle makes and sells a wide range of infant/baby formula in China.
I have spent some time working in the factory where this is produced and I have no problems recommending their product.
They have a large number of expats in their chinese operations.

We have been using it when our daughter was small.

In the past there were issues with "repacking" operations like Wyeth. Made it into local news.

britinchina

Thanks for the heads up.

I also heard about issues with " repacking " operations like Wyeth.

I may be wrong but I think that Wyeth and a few other companies have some formula that is repackaged in China and some that is " supposedly " 100% imported including the packaging, which they charge a premium for.

Mipik

The issues with Wyeth "repacking" (the whole operation in a not quite sanitary warehouse) have happened about 10 years ago so it might have improved.
Or not as the local standards for "repacking" are very different than for manufacture.

Nestle formula products are produced to the same technical and sanitary standard as in Europe, their plant has two milk streams which means that all infant/baby formula is made with milk without traces of antibiotics.

(To be honest and clarify: I used to work for Nestle in China, left quite a few years ago)

We have also used collostrum milk powder as a supplement (I would recommend that as well). That comes from New Zealand only.