HK formula hotline gets 3,800 calls within 2 days

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's hotline for milk formula, which was set up nearly two days ago to assist local parents who have infants and young children to order milk formula, has received more than 3,800 calls and been operating effectively, Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man said Sunday.

Speaking to reporters, Ko said some calls were for enquiries only, and the total number of calls from local parents referred to infant formula suppliers for further processing was around 2,000.

"We will continue to closely monitor the situation of the overall supply and functioning of the retail chain in the next few days, hopefully could ensure that all these families in Hong Kong will receive the formula products they need before the Lunar New Year," he said.

There has been a severe shortage of some popular brands of baby formula in the Hong Kong retail market recently due to the surging demand of buyers from the mainland.

The government on Friday announced a string of measures to ease up milk powder shortage which included limiting the amount of baby formula taken away from Hong Kong to two tins per person.