Baby Foods: Nutrition and Marketing

Baroness Williams of Trafford Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The noble and learned Baroness is right about ensuring that we do not stigmatise women who cannot breastfeed; that is critical. There is criticism of some of the organisations supporting breastfeeding, which have perhaps gone too far. We do take this seriously, looking at the different ages, moving from infant formula onwards, and frankly, the advice from companies is quite misleading. All this needs to be taken into account to get a rounded picture and to ensure that consumers are getting the best information possible.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

My Lords, I agree with the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler- Sloss, that we should not stigmatise women who cannot breastfeed. Nevertheless, baby formula does specify that breast is best. Following on from the supplementary question asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Hughes, what general awareness process are the Government engaging in to inform parents that home-cooked food is better than pre-packaged food because it is not ultra-processed and not expensive, like baby food, but much cheaper, and so they know exactly what goes into it?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The noble Baroness touches on the importance of the family hub model, making sure that it builds on Sure Start, but it is also important that we keep an eye on what is happening. The Competition and Markets Authority’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.