A missed opportunity to curb high infant formula prices?

Government action on Infant Formula: a good first step but we’ll be focussing on the follow-on, as Tilda Ferree, our Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer, explores 

The Government has shared its response to the Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA) eleven recommendations to improve outcomes for parents purchasing first infant formula.

This response – which has taken nine months – is a small but positive first step towards addressing the lack of affordable first infant formula on the market, an issue exacerbated by the aggressive marketing tactics of formula manufacturers to build brand loyalty, coupled with weak enforcement of advertising restrictions.

Of the 11 recommendations made by the CMA, the Government have accepted six ‘in principle’, said that three need ‘further work’ and only rejected two outright, leaving the door open for more work to be done, which is welcome news after years of high formula prices.

It is welcome too that in their response the Government have demonstrated a commitment to breastfeeding support and nutritional safety nets like the Healthy Start scheme. But overall, the response lacks the ambition needed to curb misleading marketing and the high prices of infant formula.

The planned actions place far too much onus on parents to shop around for a cheaper brand, whilst voluntary action from retailers is less effective than a mandatory measure would be, and formula manufacturers can bide their time to see when, or even if, the Government will crackdown on their marketing and pricing tactics.

Below we summarise what the Government is – and is not – doing to bring down these prices and help the families struggling the most.

Which of the CMA’s recommendations has the Government accepted?

Accepted in principle

Amongst the more concrete commitments, Government have said they will ensure parents are better informed about the nutritional equivalence of all first infant formula. Our latest formula price tracker (see Figure 1 below) shows that the most expensive first infant formula product on the market (Aptamil 1 from Coop) is twice the price of the least expensive (Aldi’s Mamia) so it’s true that some parents could potentially make large savings by switching to a cheaper brand. However, detail of proposed actions are minimal, beyond committing to a deadline of ‘summer 2026.’ This measure also places pressure on parents to shop around, many of whom will be struggling with the cost of even the cheapest formula brand.

They will also clarify that legislation that restricts marketing does not prevent vouchers and loyalty cards from being used to purchase first infant formula. Whilst helpful, many low income families will face barriers to benefitting from vouchers and loyalty cards (see further here and here).

On enforcement of advertising restrictions, they have under-committed. The Government will work with the Advertising Standards Agency to clarify what ‘advertising’ means, particularly in relation to social media and digital platforms where loopholes are being exploited.

This clarification is welcome but no timelines are provided. They will also work with local authorities and district councils – who are responsible for enforcement – to design assessment for infant formula labelling compliance, but once again, no timeline is provided.

Further work required

For three strong recommendations from the CMA (3.1-3.3), the Government will consider these in more detail with the four nation nutrition-related labelling, composition and standards (NLCS) common framework policy group. Whilst acknowledging they may require legislative change, clear timeframes for action are still needed. Ultimately, we need to see mandatory marketing restrictions on all formula milks in line with the WHO Code.1

Partially accepted 

The Government have said they will consider mandatory action after a voluntary pilot from retailers in relation to placing infant formula separately to other formula milks in store (to prevent cross-promotion via a ‘halo effect’  of first infant formula, which cannot be advertised, through advertising their similarly branded follow-on formula nearby) and placing messages on nutritional sufficiency of all formulas in shops and online. Voluntary action is well established to be less effective (see “The Balance of Mandatory vs Voluntary Policies” here) and we would urge the Government to state when it will assess this voluntary pilot.

Fully rejected

The Government won’t be introducing standardised labels in healthcare settings – predominantly for practical challenges. This is a missed opportunity to overcome the influence that formula provided in healthcare settings has on brand loyalty, sometimes locking parents into feeling they must continue to purchase the same product for their baby once they leave hospital, even if it is a more expensive brand. Although it is positive that the Government will consider looking into procurement processes to ensure cheaper brands are in hospital.

Finally, the Government will not strengthen the competent authority’s powers to pre-assess labels before the get to market, a recommendation made to eliminate unverifiable health claims appearing on formula products. This too is a missed opportunity and means that even when the (hopefully) stronger messaging that all infant formula is nutritionally sufficient is communicated to parents, set against weak enforcement, this information is still competing with the marketing claims and brand influence of formula manufacturers.

For now, parents are still left navigating high prices and contradictory messaging

Timely and ambitious action on formula prices is vital. Families are paying stubbornly high prices for a product that is an essential item for babies under a year who are not breastfed, whilst also navigating competing information and unverifiable health claims on different products - despite the fact that by law all formula products are suitable for a baby’s growth and development.

The Food Foundation’s latest formula price tracking shows consistently high and static prices across brands. The cheapest (Aldi Mamia and Lidl’s Lupilu2) are own-brands and therefore not accessible to anyone who doesn’t happen to live near one of those stores.

First Infant Milk Formula 800g tin prices, December 2025 highlighting cheapest (green) and most expensive (orange) retailers for each brand, and price changes since June 2025(in brackets)

For some families the cost is leading to borrowing money, mothers skipping meals to save money, or even being forced into unsafe feeding practices, such as watering down formula, increasing the time between feeds, and substituting formula with other milks which are not appropriate for the infant’s age.

Penny Walters, a mother and grandmother in Newcastle said: "What is really lacking in the Government’s response is consideration for the lowest income families. Not necessarily benefitting from loyalty schemes and often already shopping around for the cheapest formulas, the issue is that formula prices are unaffordable for too many parents.

"What is really lacking in the Government’s response is consideration for the lowest income families. Not necessarily benefitting from loyalty schemes and often already shopping around for the cheapest formulas, the issue is that formula prices are unaffordable for too many parents.

"When my daughter, Heather, was about to have her first baby, because of her health conditions and medications, she was told she might not be able to breastfeed. Now that hit hard. Suddenly, we were looking at the cost of formula, bottles, sterilizers, prep machines.

"If you don't get a maternity grant, and many people don't, how are you supposed to afford it all? We were going from shop to shop, looking for the cheapest options for baby formula. But doing the research takes time, travel, money and energy. They're all expensive anyway.

"We've been lucky. We've had the support network of friends who have lent us everything, but not everybody has. For some families, the cost is too much."

What needs to happen next?

Although a start, the Government’s response to the CMA will leave formula prices largely unaffected for now. Ultimately, more needs to be done, and at speed. For infants and young children, delays in receiving essential nutritional support could have lasting impacts on their health and development. 

We urge the Government to press forward with the six recommendations it has accepted in principle and to set hard deadlines. For the three that require ‘further work’, deadlines are needed with the goal of actioning these recommendations. 

It is critical that parallel action is taken to boost families’ incomes so that they can afford to give their young children the best start in life. One way of supporting these families is to strengthen the Healthy Start Scheme by:

• Extending eligibility to all families on Universal Credit, and including four-year-olds and those with no recourse to public funds.  
• Introduce auto-enrolment so no eligible family misses out 
• Increase the value again after April 2026 in line with inflation and ensure that the value continues to rise in line with inflation.