Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increases in infant formula prices on families.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that infant formula prices have risen significantly in recent years, and stakeholder evidence highlighted risks such as unsafe feeding practices and food insecurity among families struggling to afford formula. It is vital that families who cannot or choose not to breastfeed have access to infant formula that is affordable and high quality.

Infant formula regulations set robust nutritional and compositional standards, which means that all infant formulas for sale in the United Kingdom are suitable for meeting the nutritional requirements of babies, regardless of price or brand. These regulations do not control or set the price of infant formula.

In December 2025, the four governments of the UK published their joint response to the CMA’s market study on the infant and follow-on formula market, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infant-formula-government-response-to-cma-market-study

This sets out a package of measures that will help give parents and carers the confidence to choose lower priced products, encourage manufacturers and retailers to compete more on price, and remove unnecessary barriers to affordability. Switching from the most expensive product to the cheapest could save up to £540 over the first year of an infant’s life.

Measures include providing greater clarity on when and how vouchers, gift cards, and loyalty or reward schemes can be used to buy infant formula, and updated guidance on this point will be published shortly.

Other measures to support families include the Government’s Healthy Start Scheme, which aims to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households.

In April 2026 we will increase the value of Healthy Start weekly payments by 10% to £4.65, from £4.25, for pregnant women and children over one and under four years old, and to £9.30, from £8.50, for children under one years old. This will boost support for those families who need it the most. Healthy Start funding can be used to buy, or be put towards, the cost of fruit, vegetables, milk, and infant formula.