Released on: 14 February 2025
In response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) final report into the pricing, affordability, and industry practices of the infant and follow-on formula milk market, Angela McConville, Chief Executive of NCT, said:
Infant formula milk is an essential, non-substitutable food and source of nutrition for many babies. Parents urgently need access to clear, evidenced-based information about infant formula milk, affordably priced products, and unbiased and compassionate support for their infant feeding journeys. They certainly don’t need the misleading and harmful marketing tactics that have been so prevalent for so long in the formula milk industry, unfairly pushing up prices and exacerbating cost of living pressures.
Today’s final report from the CMA has made important progress towards eliminating brand influence in healthcare settings and equipping parents to make independent decisions in retail settings. In particular, the recommendations to strengthen advertising rules, standardise labelling for infant formula milk in healthcare settings, and ensure retail product labels are pre-approved by an independent authority will be crucial to enabling parents to access more affordable infant formula milk products, free from undue commercial pressure.
How sensitively these measures are implemented will determine how impactful they are for parents – it’s crucial that these changes do not add to the pressure, anxiety, and stigmas that parents can experience when navigating infant feeding decisions.
The ball is now in the government’s court - it must ensure the UK is no longer a place where the profits of formula milk companies are prioritised over the needs and health of new parents and babies. Acting decisively now will help to protect the health and wellbeing of babies and parents, contain cost of living pressures, and ensure the formula milk industry is competitive, properly regulated, and acting in the interests and health of parents and babies.
You can read the full report here.
