A Melbourne woman has filmed her tense confrontation with fellow shoppers she accused of “cheating the system” by rushing to strip the store of baby formula, shortly before a NSW man was arrested for attempting to steal a truck full of the in-demand product.

Hannah Dixon posted footage to Facebook on Wednesday in which she can be heard telling the shoppers that what they were doing was “wrong”. The post has since been taken down.

“They’re just doing the rounds. They’re going through the checkout and coming back all over again,” Ms Dixon can be heard telling nearby Coles staff.

She later posted on Facebook: “I understand it’s legally allowed, however, surely there should be a limit on how many they can purchase in a given time frame.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJj4S2usikc

Her pleas went ignored by the dozen shoppers captured on film who continued to fill their shopping baskets with tins of the prized A2 baby formula, snapped up directly from a Coles trolley before staff could stock the products on shelves.

Coles responded to the video by saying it has now set a limit of four units per customer.

“We are committed to ensuring that our customers with a genuine need for baby formula have access to this product,” a spokesperson told The New Daily.

“As we are currently experiencing high demand for some of our products, we are limiting sales quantities on all baby formula to four units per customer.

“We’re working to ensure our policies are strictly adhered to in stores.”

On Thursday NSW police pursued and arrested a 39-year-old man after he allegedly stole a truckload of looted baby formula in Sydney’s west.

It is alleged the truck’s baby formula had been stolen in a break-and-enter in Regents Park earlier on Tuesday.

The truck driver, who was wanted on two warrants, was refused bail to appear at Bankstown Local Court on November 8 charged with failing to stop in a police pursuit and driving while disqualified.

Demand for A2 baby formula in China and Australia has exceeded expectations, with the manufacturer announcing in April it was forced to increase production to meet demand.

A2 Milk said in a statement in April that demand had been “particularly strong” in Australia and through the cross border e-commerce channel into China.

Various sites advertise formula to Chinese customers. Photo: English Tabao.net

Various e-commerce sites advertise the sale of A2 formula to Chinese buyers.

This incident comes one month after an angry Brisbane mum challenged Coles to ensure its stock of Australian-made baby formula was available to all shoppers.

She filmed a group of customers clearing the shelves of the product.

Coles at the time told The New Daily that high demand meant some product lines may not always be available.

“Due to supply and demand issues, we have a number of infant formula lines that may not be available in all stores,” a Coles spokesperson said.

“In circumstances where parents have a genuine need for additional tins, we will take that into account. We are working with our suppliers on solutions to improve availability for customers. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience.”

-with AAP