At $12 or more per can, baby formula is an expensive and highly pilfered item that's flying off shelves and into the pockets of profiteers.

And that stolen formula, which is often improperly stored and therefore spoils, could end up right back in stores and in your infant's bottle.

Baby formula, like razors, over-the-counter medications and diabetes test strips, is highly sought after by organized retail-theft rings that resell it on the black market.

"It's just a crime that over part of the last decade has become more recognized by career criminals as a high-profit, low-risk crime," said Jerry Biggs of Illinois, the national organized retail-crime division coordinator for Walgreens.

In Utah, a bill that would give authorities more muscle to bust such crooks is headed to the state Legislature in January.

Unlike petty shoplifters, who typically lift an item for their own use or consumption, professional crooks called "boosters" can steal thousands of dollars worth of merchandise in a single day.

High-level fencing operations can move millions of dollars worth of goods in a single week. And the boosters' cut can be lucrative. Biggs said one man he busted pulled in $100,000 a month.

Mining "white gold": All told, retailers nationwide lose about $34 billion a year in merchandise to the crime rings, Biggs said. The loot from such operations, authorities fear, funds everything from drug use and production to terrorist groups.

As for formula, some thieves will resell it on the street, at flea markets and Internet auction sites such as eBay. A recent search on the site revealed 784 entries under "baby formula," with brands such as Enfamil, Nestle Good Start and Similac up for sale.

Still others will attempt to sell it via radio station or classified newspaper ads, or to "fences" - often discount or retail stores, Biggs said.

Lynn Weston, the state's Women, Infants and Children (WIC) retail coordinator, said the black market for baby formula, sometimes nicknamed "white gold," is nothing new. His office once tracked a can of baby formula from a WIC clinic in Salt Lake City to a swap meet in Riverdale.

Consumers face the risk of purchasing spoiled formula that has lost its nutritional value, warns Jim Olsen, executive vice president of the Utah Retail Merchants Association.

"Our main fear is that these products do have a shelf life and do need to be handled correctly, and in some cases, [cans of baby formula] are repackaged or diluted with other substances to make it stretch further," Olsen said. "It is literally a health and safety issue for these infant children."

To protect infants, Utah, even before the USDA mandated it, requires its mothers to redeem WIC vouchers for baby formula at reputable retailers only, Weston noted.

Some Utah stores are limiting the number of cans they put on the shelves and placing surveillance cameras on those aisles, Olsen said. Others require customers to purchase baby formula at customer-service counters.

Shop Utah: Organized retail theft has typically been difficult to prosecute in Utah - shoplifters caught with less than $1,000 in merchandise are only charged with a misdemeanor. Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, wants to change that.

His bill would make organized retail theft a felony and allow authorities to seize assets, freeze bank accounts and order restitution - discouraging out-of-state thieves from coming here to take advantage of the state's lax laws.

A recent example: a trio of men from New York stole 39 iPods and several Playstation 2 games within 15 seconds from a Riverdale Target in early October. A surveillance video showed one of the men cramming the merchandise down his oversized pants, while his cohort was stationed as a lookout at the end of the aisle. Yet another man waited outside, in the driver's seat of a getaway car.

"Utah is certainly singled out because as long as you keep it under a certain dollar amount, you avoid the felony statute," Ray said.

Wal-Mart and Target have joined Walgreens in creating organized retail-theft units to combat a crime often overlooked by law enforcement. Biggs said his unit will spend months, even years, piecing together cases that cross jurisdictional lines and involve large quantities of merchandise before forwarding them to police agencies.

"We sort of assist in putting that intelligence together in taking it to them [police] to warrant their involvement," he said.

lrosetta@sltrib.com

Avoid black-market formula Lynn Weston, retail coordinator for Utah's Women, Infants and Children program, offers these tips for avoiding spoiled baby formula.

* STAY AWAY from discounted baby formula offered at flea markets, Internet auction sites and through radio and newspaper advertisements. Stick to reputable retailers instead.

* BE ALERT to signs a can has been tampered with, such as blurred lot numbers on the top or bottom of the can or handwritten words on the package. Stay away from dented or out-of-date cans.