Baby formula is the most recent essential item to be seen protected with security tags as struggling families have been forced to steal, MPs have warned.
The product, which is continuing to climb in price as inflation levels rise to 9.1%, is now being kept behind shop counters in some stores to deter thieves.
“One of the most worrying increases in food prices is for infant formula, some of which is now so expensive it is security tagged and kept behind the till because families have resorted to stealing it,” Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss told the commons today.
“What is the government doing to make sure that infant formula is available to families who need it? Because at this price many cannot afford it at all.”
READ MORE: Price inflation causes a 22% rise in thefts as supermarkets increase security
In response to the concerns, cabinet office minister Kit Malthouse said: “Obviously we are monitoring all prices, particularly in vital areas like formula, very closely and I know she will welcome therefore the support that is going to eight million houses on means-tested benefits starting from today, with another instalment in the future coming this autumn on top of the assistance that has already been given.
“We have put something like £37 billion now into the system to assist families, but we constantly keep these things under review and will act if needed.”
This assistance has been rolled out to struggling families in receipt of certain means-tested benefits from today, with an initial cost of living payment of £326.
These families will receive a second payment in the autumn of £324, an overall amount of £650 to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
In suggesting an alternative means of support, Thewliss said: “A good start would be increasing the money available to families, as Scotland has done through the Scottish child payment, and scrapping the two-child limit in Universal Credit which now affects 359,000 households and 1.3 million children.”
Click here to sign up to Grocery Gazette’s free daily email newsletter
