A new report has called on the UK government to better support breastfeeding mothers, and tighten the rules on companies selling alternatives to breastmilk.
On Tuesday (24 June), the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WTBi) presented its UK report for 2024 to parliament.
“Shopping for infant formula in the UK has become a minefield”
Alison Morton
The report, originally published in March 2025 and backed by the Institute for Health Visiting (iHV), found gaps in UK policy relating to breastfeeding and regulations on the advertising of breastmilk substitutes, such as formula.
WTBi found that, in England, there was no “overall leadership or strategy” for protecting infant feeding and that the UK lacked strong enough protection for new mothers, including statutory breastfeeding breaks and facilities.
It criticised all administrations in the UK for failing to include infants and young children in local and national disaster planning guidance, in particular due to concerns about food insecurity.
As well as this, the report found a “rapid increase” in companies which supply formula, and other substitutes, profiteering despite the ongoing cost of living crisis in recent years.
The report further highlighted a lack of social media regulation of formula advertising, and other gaps in legislation.
It called on the UK government and devolved administrations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to fill these gaps, and to implement the 11 recommendations of a February 2025 report from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which focused on exploitative practices from companies selling baby food.
CMA’s recommendations touched on some of the issues highlighted in WTBi’s report, urging action on misleading nutritional information on breastmilk substitutions.
Alison Morton, iHV chief executive, spoke about her concerns about the industry’s practices.
The iHV has long campaigned for infants, babies and their parents to be better recognised in legislation, with Ms Morton previously describing this as the “baby blind spot”.
She said, following the publication of the WTBi report: “Shopping for infant formula in the UK has become a minefield.
Alison Morton
“The CMA’s report lays bare the harsh fact that parents are being exploited by misleading advertising.
“The industry preys on parents’ overriding motivation to do ‘what is viewed to be best for their baby’ – with aggressive corporate marketing tactics motivated by profit, pressurising parents to purchase a higher priced product under the misguided belief that it is better quality.
“Parents and babies deserve better.”
Similarly, Dr Vicky Sibson, director of First Steps Nutrition Trust, said: “Corporate greed is risking child health.
“All babies deserve the best start in life and it’s high time the big brand formula companies were held to account to support that becoming a reality.”
Ms Sibson said the acceptance of the CMA’s recommendations by the governments of the UK would be a “great step in the right direction”.
Jess Brown-Fuller, Liberal Democrat MP for Chichester and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infant Feeding called on the government to intervene on high prices and misleading marketing in the breastfeeding alternative industry.
“No parent should face stigma or financial hardship for feeding their baby,” she said.
“The CMA has offered clear, sensible reforms: banning false claims, improving labelling and removing brand bias in hospitals.
“Wes Streeting must act now to implement these changes and ensure every baby gets a fair start, regardless of how they are fed or their family’s income.”
On the same day as WTBi’s report was launched, Baroness Hughes of Stretford used her platform in the House of Lords to ask the government what plans it had to improve nutritional and marketing standards for baby food.
In response, government whip Baroness Blake of Leeds said: “The [CMA]’s market study is important, and we are looking at this very closely.
“We want to work with the devolved governments to make sure that our UK-wide response is appropriate.
“That level of consultation takes time; we want to get it right and we want to move forward on this issue.”
