Sussex MP urges Government to crack down on ‘exploitative' baby formula marketing
Liberal Democrat MP Jess Brown-Fuller, chairwoman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Infant Feeding, has said new parents face inflated prices and unfounded health claims on packaging.
Firms are also 'exploiting a legal loophole' to circumvent rules about the advertising of formula, she added, and offering their product to hospitals at discounted rates, giving parents the impression of an NHS recommendation.
The Chichester MP is raising concerns after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a formula market study report earlier this year highlighting a number of issues, including misleading marketing, information gaps and cost impacts on low-income families.
Formula manufacturers increased prices by an average of 25% in the two years up to November 2023 and they remain at near record highs.
Parents often believe that a higher price tag means a more nutritious formula for their baby, despite regulations requiring all formula on the market to be nutritionally equivalent.
Ms Brown-Fuller told the PA news agency: 'There are parents who believe that by buying the more expensive formula, they are supporting their child's feeding or growth or potential more when actually all of those milks are nutritionally equivalent.'
There are even reports of parents buying more expensive formula but using fewer scoops per bottle to try and make it last longer, which Ms Brown-Fuller branded 'dangerous'.
These parents are doing what they think is best for their children, she said, when in reality there is 'no difference' between the £14 tub and £7 tub of formula.
The Liberal Democrat noted that companies will use their packaging to 'imply a nutritional superiority', with phrases like 'nutritionally complete' or 'supports a healthy immune system'.
She asked: 'Where is the evidence that suggests that that formula is in any way a boost to an infant's immune system above any others?'
Meanwhile, other formulas will write 'with added…' and name ingredients like Omega 3, certain vitamins, or iron.
Ms Brown-Fuller said: 'It has to have a certain number of nutrients in it anyway. And anything that is additional potentially shouldn't be in there because they are working around a very strict compliance code.'
She explained: 'They wouldn't be able to make these bold claims if they were a medication but, because it's a food, it's a source of nutrition, they're not held to the same standards.'
Meanwhile, it is illegal to advertise newborn formula in the UK but firms are allowed to advertise follow-on milk for babies that are six months and older.
This is because World Health Organisation (WHO) guidance is that breast milk should be the main source of nutrition for all infants until they are six months old, and a lack of advertising regulation is linked to lower breastfeeding rates.
Ms Brown-Fuller said: 'There is a direct correlation between countries that have no regulation around formula marketing and drastic reductions in breastfeeding.
'So that is why the Government did introduce regulation around advertising of formula milk because the numbers of breastfeeding mothers was dramatically reducing.'
The UK scores just 48 out of 100 overall on a range of infant-feeding metrics, according to the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative.
However, to get around these regulations, formula companies advertise for their follow-on milk and 'make all their packaging look exactly the same to anybody that was just perusing the shelves'.
The Chichester MP said: 'They're exploiting a legal loophole, because it is a legal loophole, but they've totally blurred the lines through similar branding.'
Another form of 'exploitative' marketing, she argued, is that formula companies will sell their formula into healthcare professional environments like maternity units or neonatal units for a hugely reduced price.
Purchase habits show strong brand loyalty when it comes to formula, with parents rarely switching brands once they have introduced a particular one to their baby.
It is also argued that brand presence in a healthcare setting gives the 'fake impression of an NHS endorsement'.
Ms Brown-Fuller told PA: 'They know that if they get the parents to use that in a hospital setting, the likelihood is that that is the formula they will then use when they go home.'
The CMA has put forward 11 recommendations to address these issues, aiming to strengthen labelling and advertising rules, better inform parents to make choices in retail environments and to eliminate brand influence in healthcare settings with standardised packaging.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'As part of our Plan for Change, we're determined to ensure every child has the best start to life.
'There are many benefits of breastfeeding but for those mothers that cannot or choose not to breastfeed, it is vital parents can access infant formula that is affordable and high quality. Families should not be paying over the odds to feed their babies.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Rhyl Journal
26 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Sturgeon: Salmond happier for SNP to be destroyed than succeed without him
In her memoir, Frankly, the former first minister said she had come to the realisation that her former friend and mentor 'wanted to destroy me'. She said her relationship with the late politician began to deteriorate as soon as she became leader of Scotland. Mr Salmond, who died last year, quit as SNP leader and first minister in 2014 after the Scottish independence referendum. Ms Sturgeon also claims in her book that Mr Salmond had admitted to her that the 'substance' of one of the sexual harassment complaints had been true. The former Alba Party leader was acquitted of all charges relating to the allegations at court in 2020, while a judicial review found the Scottish Government's own investigation of him was tainted with apparent bias. Ms Sturgeon said her former mentor had created a conspiracy theory about Scotland's core democratic institutions to shield himself from accountability. She said Mr Salmond never produced a 'shred of evidence' to support these claims. She accused him of trying to 'distort' and 'weaponise' the trauma of victims. In her book, which was on sale in some places ahead of schedule on Monday, she said: 'In his (Salmond's) efforts to turn himself into the wronged person, he demonstrated that nothing and no one was sacrosanct for him. 'There was never the merest hint of concern about the damage he did to the party he previously led. 'Indeed, it felt to me that he would have rather destroyed the SNP than see it succeed without him.' She accused her former boss of having 'impugned the integrity' of the institutions 'at the heart of Scottish democracy', including the Government, Police Scotland and Crown Office. She went on: 'The fact that he never produced a shred of credible evidence that a conspiracy existed, because it didn't, wasn't enough to stop him seeking to damage the reputation of these institutions and shatter the morale of those who worked in them. 'He was prepared to traumatise, time and again, the women at the centre of it all. 'A jury concluded that what they experienced wasn't criminal, but that does not mean those experiences didn't happen. 'Even if he never said so explicitly, he was accusing them of being liars, of making it all up.' The former SNP leader said Mr Salmond had made his former allies and SNP colleagues 'mortal enemies' in the fallout over misconduct claims against him. 'In that regard,' she wrote, 'I was clearly public enemy number one. For a while, I told myself that the bonds between us would be stronger than his thirst for revenge. 'Eventually, though, I had to face the fact that he was determined to destroy me. 'I was now engaged in mortal political combat with someone I knew to be both ruthless and highly effective. 'It was a difficult reality to reconcile myself to. 'So too was losing him as a friend. I went through what I can only describe as a grieving process. 'For a time after we stopped speaking, I would have conversations with him in my head about politics and the issues of the day. 'I had occasional, but always vivid, dreams in which we were still on good terms. I would wake up from these feeling utterly bereft.'
ITV News
26 minutes ago
- ITV News
Keir Starmer promises government's 'full backing' to get Sunderland's Crown Works Studios on track
Sir Keir Starmer has promised the Government's 'full backing' to get Sunderland's flagship Crown Works Studios project back on track. It emerged earlier this summer that the main private backer behind the £450 million film and TV studio development had pulled out. North East leaders are now pushing to find new investors to ensure that the huge regeneration, earmarked for the banks of the River Wear in Pallion, can go ahead. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service on Tuesday, the Prime Minister pledged his support in the hunt for new investment that can deliver a project hailed as the biggest boost for the region since the arrival of Nissan. The Government has already put £25 million into the Crown Works plans, via the devolution deal which established the North East mayor last year, while the local authorities have committed to a total public investment of up to £120 million. Asked what support Downing Street had offered since Cain International's withdrawal from the Crown Works deal, Sir Keir said: 'Let me be really clear on this because I know it really matters – we really want to see this landmark project come to fruition. It is such a good project, good for jobs, good for growth. 'We announced £25 million of funding for the studios in the Autumn Statement to support filmmaking and economic growth, and we are working with the mayor [Kim McGuinness] very closely because we need to get private investors to get in behind this. 'I am determined that we will do everything we can to see this project come to fruition. It is really important locally, it is a huge thing, and we need to give it our full backing.' Global entertainment company Fulwell Entertainment, who were behind the Sunderland 'Til I Die Netflix series, had partnered with Cain on the joint venture to build 19 sound stages on the riverside plot. The firm has said it remains committed to working with Sunderland Council to find new funding for the filmmaking hub. It had been hoped that the scheme could create more than 8,000 jobs and Labour's new creative industries strategy specifically highlights the 'game-changing plans for film production in Sunderland'. Planning permission for the development was secured last year, but detailed approval has only been granted for a first phase of building that would include four sound stages, production offices, workshop buildings, and a multi-storey car park. City council leader Michael Mordey has previously said that he expects to have new funding secured by the time that land remediation works at the site are completed later this year.
Daily Mirror
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Nigel Farage will meet with JD Vance during UK visit - after not visiting Trump in Scotland
It had been previously reported that Vance would be meeting with Robert Jenrick during his stay, but not with Farage or Kemi Badenoch. But the Mirror has learned this is not the case Nigel Farage will meet with JD Vance on Wednesday, the Mirror understands - after not visiting Donald Trump during his UK trip last month. The US Vice President is spending time in the Cotswolds after an intense few days staying with Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening, Kent. It had been previously reported that Vance would be meeting with Robert Jenrick during his stay, but not with Farage or Kemi Badenoch. But a source confirmed to the Mirror that this was not the case, and they will meet on Wednesday. He and Farage are aligned on a number of issues - notably their interpretation of free speech. Farage has criticised the Government's approach to age-limiting adult content online. And Vance has long railed against what he sees as violations of free speech in the UK's policing of hate crimes and harassment. It comes after . READ MORE: MIKEY SMITH: 10 unhinged Donald Trump moments - and why his crime stats are even more dodgy Vance is also expected to visit US troops stationed at RAF Fairford. He'll receive a briefing on the base's capabilities and will give a speech. RAF Fairford is home to US troops from the United States Air Force's 501st Combat Support Wing and the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron. Farage did not meet with President Trump when he visited the UK last month, on a four-day trip to his two Scottish golf resorts. It's understood Farage didn't feel it was appropriate to meet Trump this time round, because of his prominence in the polls and claimed position as "leader of the opposition". His absence was unusual - Farage and Trump have met during most of the US President's visits to Britain in recent years. On Sunday, the Mirror revealed a campaign group had raised almost £4,500 from Brits who want to "ruin" JD Vance's holiday. The group 'Everyone Hates Elon' were behind huge posters of Donald Trump with dead paedophile Jeffrey Epstein that appeared around the UK to mark the US President's golf holiday in Scotland They also added a plaque to the sign outside his Turnberry golf course saying it was "Twinned with Epstein Island". Now they're planning to welcome the US Vice President with billboards and flags of a meme of Mr Vance with a ruddy face, a beard and a bald head - which it's claimed he hates. A Norwegian tourist who was refused entry to the US earlier this year claimed he was told it was because he had a copy of the meme on his phone. A spokesperson for the group said: "JD Vance says the UK has a free speech problem - but a tourist was banned from entering the USA simply for having this image on his phone. "So we thought we'd show him what free speech looks like here by welcoming him with the image he apparently hates so much."
