Health ministers urged to act on fair pricing and marketing of infant formula

Eight months after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) set out its urgent recommendations to address the unaffordability of many infant formulas, new evidence from First Steps Nutrition Trust and the Baby Feeding Law Group has revealed little or no change on fair pricing.

The new data from Sustain member First Steps Nutrition Trust shows that:

• Prices for 9 out of the 12 infant formulas available on the market have not lowered in price despite the CMA’s findings and recommendations.
• The average cost of branded infant formula is currently £12.89 for an 800g tin, only 10p lower than in May 2025. This compares to £6.99 for supermarket own-brand infant formula.
• Since March 2021, the difference between the least and most expensive products has increased from £8.51 to £11.01, with a range of £6.99 to £18/tin. This despite all infant formulas being nutritionally equivalent, by law.
• Only 4 of the 12 800g tins of infant formulas cost less than the £8.50 weekly Healthy Start allowance for a baby under one. Two of these are supermarket own-brand products, which are less widely available than branded formulas in stores and online.

In short, the infant formula market remains dominated by expensive products, and many are not affordable with the Healthy Start allowance of £8.50 per week for a baby under 12 months.

Prices vary hugely depending on the product, even though all first infant formulas provide comparable nutrition and there are no health and nutrition benefits for additional ingredients added by companies to provide marketing difference. 

However, the Department for Health and Social Care is still giving no indication of when it will respond to the CMA report, simply saying "in due course" in response to recent parliamentary questions.

That's why Sustain's Children's Food Campaign has joined First Steps Nutrition Trust, the 38-member Baby Feeding Law Group and 19 further organisations and nutritional experts in calling on the Department of Health and Social Care to urgently publish its response and accept all 11 recommendations made by the Competition and Markets Authority in February 2025. 

In our letter, we reiterate that further government action may be needed to ensure infant formulas are accessible and affordable to families that need them, while protecting and supporting breastfeeding:

• To increase infant formula accessibility as well as supporting breastfeeding, we call on government to improve and strengthen the Healthy Start scheme.

• To improve infant formula affordability, bringing infant formula prices down in the short term and sustainably, we encourage consideration of price controls, especially profit margin caps for infant formula.

Read our letter to Health Ministers here

Dr Vicky Sibson, Director of First Steps Nutrition Trust, said:

"It’s not fair that the most hard-up families are being left to struggle to afford to feed their babies, while formula companies continue to rake in massive profits. Companies justify high price tags with misleading marketing suggesting that their formula is better than others, when this is not rooted in evidence. This exploitation needs to stop. More than 8 months ago the CMA recommended that the Government should urgently step in to strengthen marketing controls and ensure their proper enforcement. We’re asking the Department for Health and Social Care to publish their response to the CMA’s recommendations asap. Babies can’t wait.”

Dr Katie Pereira-Kotze, Secretariat of the Baby Feeding Law Group UK, said:

"The pricing and marketing strategies of commercial milk formula companies are inextricably interconnected. By delaying any action on the CMA recommendations, which include strengthening marketing restrictions and ensuring proper enforcement, the government is maintaining a status quo characterised by continued pervasive misleading marketing, high formula prices and company profiteering. Until action is prioritised families will continue to struggle unfairly and unnecessarily."

Jess Brown-Fuller, MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Infant feeding, said:

“New parents should be empowered to make the best choices for themselves and their child when it comes to infant feeding. For those that cannot breastfeed, the CMA report highlights that exploitative formula companies are taking choices out of parents hands. The delay from the DHSC in responding to the CMA is inexcusable and damaging. I am calling on them to adopt the 11 recommendations from the CMA now and ensure that parents can provide for their babies.”

Sabine Goodwin, Director of the Independent Food Action Network, said:

"All too often parents and carers are being forced to use unsafe practices when feeding their babies or access the support of overstretched charities because prohibitively expensive infant formula is unaffordable. The short and long term health of vulnerable babies under 12 months is being risked while we wait for decisive action."

Clare Livingstone, Head of Professional Policy and Practice at the Royal College of Midwives, said:

“The cost of formula milk is now unaffordable for many families, and some are struggling to feed their babies safely. No parent should be forced to make impossible choices about how to nourish their baby. Stronger regulation is vital to protect these families and ensure all babies can be fed safely and affordably. We urgently need the Department of Health and Social Care to act on the CMA’s recommendations and tackle unscrupulous profiteering by baby milk companies."

Read the full press release from First Steps Nutrition Trust

See the latest data on infant formula pricing