Baby Formula

A man from North East appeared in federal court in Baltimore yesterday on charges that he tampered with baby formula he had returned to a store for a refund. Another customer later discovered the alleged tampering when he fed the formula to his child, who threw up what was a mixture of flour and salt. Bobby Wayne Rhoades, 27, was arrested Tuesday at the Maryland Manor Motel near North East and charged with tampering with consumer products. He could receive a maximum 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

OK The Walking Dead , I see you, doing your thing. This Sunday night's episode was by no means earth shattering, but in keeping with the style of season three, there was plenty to satisfy us fans and keep us coming back next week: humans were killed (albeit inconsequential humans), questions were answered (Where is Carol? Who was on the phone?) and the plot was advanced. We were left with Michonne strolling up to the prison fence, injured and covered with a camouflage of zombie entrails, and carrying a supermarket basket full of powdered baby formula.

WASHINGTON -- The federal government is investigating allegations of price fixing made against makers of baby formula used extensively by state programs.Infant formula is a key ingredient of the food packages given to low-income families under the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC. The program accounts for one-third of all sales of infant formula in the United States.When infant formula prices go up, the cost of a WIC food package increases, fewer people can be served and some people have to be removed from the rolls, "so there is real consumer injury," said Kevin J. Arquit, director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition.

BEIJING - Chinese police have detained at least five parents who were trying to hold a news conference to publicize the plight of their children, who are suffering from kidney stones as a result of drinking tainted baby formula. The parents were taken late Thursday to a hotel often used by police as a temporary detention center on the outskirts of Beijing. They had scheduled a news conference in the capital for yesterday afternoon, according to lawyers. "It is sorrowful for our nation.

Martek Biosciences Corp. said yesterday that it had reached a licensing deal with Sandoz Nutrition SA that will put the Columbia firm's baby formula additive into the formula the Swiss-based giant sells in Europe.Martek did not give a value of the deal, but said Sandoz is the sixth big formula manufacturer to agree to use Martek's Formulaid, a complex of fatty acids derived from microalgae that scientists believe speeds up brain development in infants.Chemical components of Formulaid are present naturally in breast milk but are not part of major commercial baby formulas.

WASHINGTON -- The White House and the Pentagon strongly denied a report from Iraq yesterday that allied warplanes had bombed a baby formula factory near Baghdad, saying that the targeted plant was actually a disguised facility for germ warfare."

Formed more than 17 years ago, Martek Biosciences Corp. finally caught the attention of American parents, who bought enough baby formula bolstered by the company's algae--derived nutritional supplement to give the company its first profit. Columbia-based Martek makes the nutritional oils, known as ARA and DHA, from microalgae that it says are important to infant brain and eyesight development. But until recently, the company sold most of its products only overseas. For the past six months, three licensees have been selling products with Martek's oils in the United States.

What do you get when your company develops a product that boosts a baby's IQ? A bonanza, that's what. Just two years after hitting U.S. store shelves, baby formula enriched with Martek Biosciences Corp.'s patented nutritional oils have grabbed nearly 60 percent of the $3.5 billion domestic market for infant formula. Three out of five baby bottles are filled with formula that includes the Columbia company's additive, and that's important, doctors say, because a significant share of babies get their nutrition from formula, not mother's milk.

Martek Biosciences Corp. of Columbia plans to offer 2 million shares of new stock to the public, the company said yesterday, announcing it has registered the proposed offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Based on yesterday's closing price of $14.50 a share, the offering would raise $29 million before investment banking commissions and other expenses. Martek went public in 1993 at $7 a share.Martek intends to use the proceeds from the offering to market and develop its consumer nutritional products, to pay for capital expenditures including potential expansion of the company's baby formula supplement factory, to fund clinical studies and trials of drugs and for general corporate purposes.

OK The Walking Dead , I see you, doing your thing. This Sunday night's episode was by no means earth shattering, but in keeping with the style of season three, there was plenty to satisfy us fans and keep us coming back next week: humans were killed (albeit inconsequential humans), questions were answered (Where is Carol? Who was on the phone?) and the plot was advanced. We were left with Michonne strolling up to the prison fence, injured and covered with a camouflage of zombie entrails, and carrying a supermarket basket full of powdered baby formula.

The old joke says parents carry pictures of their children in their wallets - where their money used to be. Babies are expensive. But many parents spend far more than they need to. The reason is easy to guess - having a baby is an emotional event in life. It's common for couples, especially first-time parents, to develop the attitude, "Only the best for my baby." Where emotion is involved, poor spending choices often follow. "Marketers take advantage of that," said Kimberly Danger, author of 1,000 Best Baby Bargains.

If you haven't yet experienced the joys of airline travel this summer, there is still time to book your flight and get in on all the fun. This was already shaping up as a stressful travel season, what with higher ticket prices, long lines at check-in counters and security checkpoints, packed flights, etc. Then came news of the terrorist plot in Great Britain to blow up airliners with liquid explosives, which, as you can imagine, jacked up passenger stress...

A man from North East appeared in federal court in Baltimore yesterday on charges that he tampered with baby formula he had returned to a store for a refund. Another customer later discovered the alleged tampering when he fed the formula to his child, who threw up what was a mixture of flour and salt. Bobby Wayne Rhoades, 27, was arrested Tuesday at the Maryland Manor Motel near North East and charged with tampering with consumer products. He could receive a maximum 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Westminster officials are warning parents not to use its tap water for infants younger than 6 months old or to make baby formula with it because of elevated levels of nitrate found in one of the city's 11 wells. City officials issued the warning yesterday - the second incident involving the water system in less than two months - after taking its Cranberry Water System off line to flush out the nitrates. "The well will stay out of service until we have two weeks of sampling below the maximum contaminant level of 10," said Jeff Glass, assistant director of the city Department of Public Works.

Two pieces of news yesterday about the health benefits of DHA may benefit Martek Biosciences Corp., a Columbia company whose production of the omega-3 fatty acid has been a major force in the market for baby formula. A small-scale study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and released yesterday, showed that DHA could help prevent children with high cholesterol from developing heart disease. Meanwhile, new dietary guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture also released yesterday claimed that DHA, which is found in shellfish and fish, may also help prevent cardiovascular disease.

What do you get when your company develops a product that boosts a baby's IQ? A bonanza, that's what. Just two years after hitting U.S. store shelves, baby formula enriched with Martek Biosciences Corp.'s patented nutritional oils have grabbed nearly 60 percent of the $3.5 billion domestic market for infant formula. Three out of five baby bottles are filled with formula that includes the Columbia company's additive, and that's important, doctors say, because a significant share of babies get their nutrition from formula, not mother's milk.

Two men who paid for $40 worth of groceries at a Giant store in Annapolis displayed a gun to a cashier who tried to charge them for a case of baby formula Tuesday.According to the police report, the pair came through a check-out lane of the store, which is in the 2300 block of Forest Drive. They put several items on the counter that totaled about $40. As they were leaving, the clerk noticed a case of baby formula that cost about $56 on the bottom rack of their grocery cart.When he told the men that he had to charge them, one of them replied, "You don't have to do that," and lifted his jacket up, revealinga gun.The clerk did not argue with the pair, and they left the store,police said.

BEIJING - Chinese police have detained at least five parents who were trying to hold a news conference to publicize the plight of their children, who are suffering from kidney stones as a result of drinking tainted baby formula. The parents were taken late Thursday to a hotel often used by police as a temporary detention center on the outskirts of Beijing. They had scheduled a news conference in the capital for yesterday afternoon, according to lawyers. "It is sorrowful for our nation.

As Baltimore's side streets remained snowbound two days after a record-setting snowstorm, the city's efforts to clear neighborhoods have been slowed by equipment failures in almost half of its plows. While 101 snowplows continued to clear major streets yesterday, another 87 sat idle in repair shops with transmission problems, broken salt-spreaders and other troubles, city officials said. "The equipment failures are starting to hurt us," Mayor Martin O'Malley said. "This is a lot more snow than we're used to, and every imaginable thing is happening - engines are blowing up, plows are breaking, windshield wipers aren't working."