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Parents in the UK have criticised the high cost of baby formula and said they feel forced to pay more because retailers are not allowed to advertise or offer discounts on infant milk. The regulations are intended to increase breastfeeding rates. However, parenting site Mumsnet has said that the rules have had the opposite impact and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has recommended lifting the ban, has found that prices for formula increased between 18% and 36% over the two years from December 2021 to December 2023, depending on the brand. Only three firms, Nestle and Danone, which make SMA, Kendamil, Cow & Gate and Aptamil, control over 90% of the UK market.
The CMA has suggested that the government could buy third-party formula and sell it under National Health Service branding, as well as increasing formula education so that parent loyalty to a particular brand does not distort the market. The former director of a baby formula producer warned that the policy could prompt a “race to the bottom” with suppliers lowering the quality of their products. However, the boss of Mumsnet, Justine Roberts, said that the ban on advertisements had made formula feeding “equivalent to tobacco”.
Parents with newborns who are not breastfeeding have reported high costs for specialist formula. One mother, Natasha Kurzeja, argued that if her son had to be fed formula, the expense should be equal to that of medicines, which are free for those under 12 months. James Gilmartin, who spent more than £100 a month on formula for his twins, said that the ban on promotions was “completely disgusting” and amounted to discrimination
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