The baby formula industry is exploiting us – and parents are paying the price

Families across the UK are struggling with the rising cost of feeding their infants. As the Competition and Markets Authority prepares to release its final report, Dayna Brackley explores the shocking truth behind the price of baby formula

In the UK today, many parents are struggling to afford the rising cost of baby formula. For families unable to breastfeed, formula milk is an essential, non-negotiable expense. Yet, its price has soared well beyond inflation, pushing families into crisis.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will publish its final report on 19 February, a critical moment to see whether the government takes action against an industry that many argue is exploiting families. The interim report in November raised serious concerns about pricing and misleading marketing tactics – but will the government now step in to strengthen regulations?

My own daughter had feeding issues, and I remember buying every formula, desperate to help her and convinced by the clever and manipulative marketing telling me that what I was buying was different or special. It wasn’t. I was duped.

Looking back, I now see how I – like so many other exhausted, anxious parents – was persuaded to spend more than I could afford on products that promised solutions but delivered nothing different from the standard formulas sitting next to them on the shelf. Formula companies know how to prey on parents’ fears, using unregulated health claims, scientific-sounding terminology, and premium branding to push products that cost significantly more but offer no additional benefits.

The high cost of baby formula isn't simply the result of supply chains or inflation – it is a direct consequence of an industry that prioritises profit over the health and well-being of infants. Formula prices in the UK have risen dramatically, leaving some parents unable to afford the essential nutrition their babies need.

Research from charity First Steps Nutrition Trust showed that some of the most popular brands have increased their prices by up to 31 per cent in recent years, far outpacing inflation and making formula an expensive household staple. In the first year of a baby's life, choosing a premium-brand formula, instead of a cheaper or own-label alternative, can cost more than £500 extra.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for a clampdown on formula milk manufacturers, accusing them of exploiting families and using manipulative marketing tactics to boost sales.

The government itself has acknowledged concerns about stage 2, 3 and 4, follow-on, toddler, and growing-up milks. But despite this, these unnecessary products are pushed onto parents as though they’re essential. The reality? They’re not.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) has made it clear that children aged one to five do not need them, and NHS advice states there is no evidence that they provide any extra nutritional benefits.

And yet, formula companies have brilliantly engineered a way to keep parents hooked. Infant formula can’t be advertised because it’s an essential product, not a consumer choice. But follow-on and toddler milks? Those can be marketed, and brands use near-identical packaging, fonts, and colour palettes to blur the lines between products.

Parents think they need to move up and follow the stages, and the formula industry uses that confusion to keep them buying, long after they need to.

To make matters worse, follow-on and toddler milks aren’t just unnecessary – they can be actively harmful. Research shows that 36 per cent of children aged one to 18 months consume these milks, which make up a shocking 50 per cent of their free sugar intake.

In a world where we’re constantly warned about childhood obesity and sugar consumption, why are we allowing this?

The Baby Feeding Law Group (BFLG) and public health advocates are calling for two core actions. First, stronger regulations on the marketing of formula milk to bring UK law in line with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and ensure effective monitoring and enforcement. Second, regulatory intervention on price, including potential price caps (and/or caps on profit margins), to bring down the cost of essential formulas across the board.

Stephen Morgan MP, minister for early education, recently pledged to crack down on excessive profits at children’s expense. If he’s serious, there’s no better place to start than here.

Right now, for many families, formula is unaffordable. When an essential food is priced out of reach, it’s not a matter of consumer choice – it's a public health failure.

The industry might argue that tightening marketing restrictions is what keeps prices high, but this does not align with the evidence. The CMA report makes it clear: "While the regulations prevent promotional activity around infant formula (including price promotions), nothing in them prevents manufacturers from reducing their list price to retailers, nor retailers making unpromoted cuts to the prices offered to consumers." In other words, there is nothing stopping them from lowering their prices – they simply choose not to.

The CMA’s final report on 19 February is imminent. This crisis of excessively high infant formula prices isn't inevitable – it is a direct result of an industry being allowed to put profits over infant health. It’s time for that to change.

Dayna Brackley is a partner at food policy consultancy Bremner & Co, and specialises in child health, nutrition, and infant feeding