Parents who feed their infant children baby formula are being stigmatised and disadvantaged and risk paying spiralling prices for their choices, according to a senator who has written to the consumer watchdog to ask for an investigation into the sector.
Labour’s Rebecca Moynihan was prompted to contact the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) after an investigation into grocery prices by its counterpart in Britain, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Last year the CMA found that up to three-quarters of branded goods makers, notably baby formula makers, had increased their profitability and contributed to higher food price growth.
While consumers could for the most part find cheaper alternatives, they struggled in the case of baby formula, the CMA said.
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In a letter to the CCPC Ms Moynihan said that “the price of infant formula has been increasing at rates far higher than other essential food goods. Many parents are struggling to feed their young children due to the dramatic increase in price of name-brand formula and the absence of generic alternatives.”
She pointed out that Ireland is a net exporter of baby formula. “We subsidise the manufacturing of baby formula through Enterprise Ireland, in theory that should be cutting costs of production and reducing prices for the Irish consumer – instead, vulnerable babies at risk of hunger and parents are foregoing their own needs to afford the prices set by Danone and Nestle.”
There are restrictions on how baby formula can be marketed and how supermarket loyalty card points and vouchers can be used in the space.
Ms Moynihan noted that other restricted products include cigarettes and alcohol. “It is unfair [and] very stigmatizing with the suggestion that formula presents a similar level of threat to public health. That is really problematic.”
She pointed out that there are “huge numbers of women” under massive financial pressure with the high cost of formula “a public health issue [with] people watering down formula and kids not getting the basic nutrition they need”.
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