Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to tackle the resale of prescription only formula feeds through online auction sites.

Formula feeds, along with other items from Part XV of the Drug Tariff, are not prescription only medicines (POM) and most can be purchased from a pharmacy as foods or food supplements, as well as being prescribed if a general practitioner decides it is clinically appropriate to do so. As they are not POM, there is no restriction in medicines legislation relating to providing these to another person, whether or not for sale.

Food business operators are required to undertake a product recall where there may be unsafe product placed on the market. It is responsibility of the business to ensure that withdrawn and recalled products are handled appropriately. Activities to prevent the resale of any affected product that has been subject to a recall would be overseen by the relevant local authority to ensure that no product is re-sold and the product is destroyed. The Food Standards Agency monitors online sales platforms for any affected products and requests their removal from sale when found.