Been happening for a while. Different stores have different limits, some don't monitor it all the time, and in almost any case there's no rule that's visible anywhere about it.
Basically, as you mention, the limit is in place to avoid whole shelves of the stuff being scooped up, particularly by eager Chinese who bring it back to China where the quality of the formula is universally questionable (as it were). Often, what is taken home is not all for the host family but rather can be sold onto other people for fairly high (lucrative) prices.
Mainland Chinese swooped in on supplies in Hong Kong when the last melamine panic incident. The HK SAR wasn't really prepared for this and this resulted in a shortage of formula there.
What was worse the regional communist party were behind it. I know two people who met with the Chairman of the dairy company (China's largest I think it was) late on the Friday evening where he laid out what had happened, the direction from party heads that they would buy milk from these suppliers, pay this price, if they did not then a number of threats were made concerning him, his family and close relatives. He stated that he was not going to be made the scapegoat and was going public with the information. I am not certain but I think I recall that he had taped one of the 'threat' meetings.
He revealed the death toll was significantly higher by a factor (I cannot remember the exact figures) but above ten thousand within China and many thousands in the rest of the world. Significant pressure had been brought by the Central Govt for the figures to be suppressed both within China and in overseas countries. Have a look and you will see a surge in 'cot death' category deaths in a number of OECD countries.
He was arrested early on the Saturday morning, tried and executed by Sunday afternoon.
In some work I had done looking into China's "Shadow" factories in the early 2000s I came to the conclusion I would never purchase any food grown, processed, produced whatever in China. The information was truly scary - is the best way of describing it. The melamine substitution unfortunately whilst it has got publicity almost pales into significance.
Did you know that due to some of the information that has surfaced about contaminated food from China that a large volume of frozen F&V is shipped by the thousand of 40ft TEUs to NZ where it is packaged as "produced in NZ" or "Packaged in NZ"?
Equally thought provoking is that there is no requirement for any importer to randomly test imported foodstuffs for contamination nor quality and the Aust Govt testing is as near enough to zero?
Due to the widespread contamination of China's fresh water supplies the Chinese Govt is now the largest land owner in sub-Saharan Africa and either the 2nd or 3rd in South America after the Brazilian Govt? So it is no wonder that Chinese 'concerns' have been buying up water licenses as well as farms in Australia.
[h=3]
Largest water licence goes to Chinese buyer - Herald Sun[/h]www.heraldsun.com.au/.../
largest-
water-
licence.../story-fndo317g-12264...
Sep 1, 2012 -
AUSTRALIA'S largest water farm will today fall into Chinese hands after the government approved its controversial
sale late last night.
