Analysis: The cost of feeding one baby with infant formula for one year in Ireland is approximately €780 to €910
By Liz O'Sullivan and Aileen Kennedy, TU Dublin, Samantha Hopkins, QUB, and Clare Patton, University of Leeds
The cost of feeding one baby with infant formula for one year is approximately €780-910 euro in the Republic of Ireland and £481 - £793 in Northern Ireland. These prices have increased considerably over the last few years, by more than 20% in some cases, and have been widely commented on in newspapers in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and on the radio. The rising prices are placing financial pressure on families. For most food products, there are alternatives when prices rise, but for infants who are not breastfed and are established on formula, there is no alternative option.
In the current economic crisis, families are looking at ways to make savings, particularly on their grocery spend. Consequently, focus has shifted to supermarket rewards points and vouchers (i.e., 'supermarket incentives’) as a solution. The price of formula must be reduced but conversations focusing on supermarket incentives are distracting from the true issue: that formula price increases must be curbed through government intervention, introducing measures to ensure infant formula is accessible and affordable for all those who need it.
Supermarket incentives are marketing tactics retailers use to encourage consumer spending and strengthen loyalty to a specific brand or shop. Retailers use the data they collect to encourage further spending. Supermarket incentives are promotional tools, and Irish legislation prohibits infant formula marketing and promotion. This is for good reason. There is a well-documented history of the formula industry using aggressive marketing strategies, highlighted by the WHO in 2022.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, should supermarkets cut the price of baby formula?
The advertising for formula and follow-on formula products has succeeded in shaping parental belief that if a baby is not breastfed, they should be fed a formula product until the age of 2 or 3. However, the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive, and the National Health Service all agree that children do not need a formula milk after the age of 12 months. Yet, marketing communications fuel the belief that follow-on formulae are a (costly) necessity.
Existing legislation is there to limit powerful companies from unduly influencing the decision-making process that everyone with small children must navigate, and we should resist all attempts to weaken that legislation. The aim is to provide parents/carers with unbiased and evidence-based information that is not focusing on the interests of shareholder.
Doing the maths is sobering. If a family spent €900 a year on formula and were entitled to collect supermarket points on those purchases, they could accrue 900 points. This would translate to a €9 supermarket voucher. This does not even cover the price of one tin of formula: not much of a saving. However, if the government had introduced price caps two years ago and the prices hadn’t increased by 20%, the same family would have had to spend €750 on infant formula, saving €150.
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From RTÉ News, US baby formula plant shut down
Prices must stabilise at an affordable level in line with inflation and in a way that puts families’ interests at the heart of measures and not business interests via mechanisms to encourage repeat custom. Any legal changes to how infant formula is marketed in Ireland should follow the international standards established in the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes because this protects the interests of families in a way that for-profit companies do not.
Ensuring a safe and affordable supply of infant formula is particularly important in Ireland, as so many babies consume formula. In the US, in 2022, one of the biggest formula production plants was shut down for months due to bacterial contamination. This caused widespread shortages across the US, with out-of-stock rates reported as high as 55% in some areas, resulting in parents scrambling to locate formula for their babies and babies being hospitalised due to inappropriate feeding practices. Given that this is often their only source of nutrition, infants can be quickly affected by supply chain issues. Potential contamination, resulting in formula shortages, is a serious risk in Ireland. Already this year there has been a recall notice for a specific brand of infant formula due to potential contamination. Clearly, this is an emergency Ireland needs to be prepared for.
In 2018, the WHO called on all member states to have an Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies Preparedness Plan to ensure the adequate protection of infant feeding. Ireland has no such plan. The Governments in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland must embrace their responsibility to ensure a safe, reliable, and affordable supply of formula for babies, one that meets all nutritional composition and safety regulations.
Read more: What's Ireland's plan for feeding babies in a national emergency?
There is no need for formula advertisements, confusing variations of products and packaging, and loyalty schemes. Formula should simply be available and affordable for those who need it. Government has the power to make that happen.
Ultimately, money-off vouchers are not a real saving to the consumer—they are an ongoing promotion that locks customers into a supermarket by encouraging spending and brand loyalty (thus limiting choice). The focus on supermarket incentives as a solution to the cost of infant formula is short-sighted. Safe, consistent, and appropriate food for babies is too vital for the prices to be left to market forces. A further issue with such incentives is businesses’ power to reverse promotions. This happened in the very recent past when, at the end of last year, Dunnes Stores changed the expiry date on their "€10 off €50" vouchers, reducing the window for customers to avail of the promotion.
Measures need to be introduced by the government to ensure an affordable and sustainable supply of infant formula. There is precedent in legislation introduced in 1981 that placed a cap on the price of formula; we propose that at a time of great financial strain on families, there is an urgent need to reduce the price of infant formula once again.
All authors are currently working on a project titled 'Developing an infant and young child feeding in emergencies preparedness plan for the island of Ireland.' This project is funded under the North-South Research Programme, administered by the Higher Education Authority.
Dr Liz O'Sullivan is a Lecturer in Nutrition at TU Dublin, the Programme Chair of the BSc in Public Health Nutrition, and coordinator of the WBTi-Ireland Core Group. Dr Aileen Kennedy is a Registered Dietitian and Lecturer in Dietetics at TU Dublin. Dr Samantha Hopkins is a postdoctoral research fellow in Queen’s University Belfast. Dr Clare Patton is a lecturer-in-law at the University of Leeds.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
