I know it's illegal but is it worth reporting?

[Itscurtainsforyou]

Just seen a fb discussion about someone finding discounted "stage 1" baby formula at a supermarket. They reported it to the manager and told them it was against the law to discount baby formula. They said that the manager just returned the formula to the discount shelf.

There have been several comments about how this should be taken further and reported to various pro-breastfeeding groups/companies and the supermarket be boycotted.

I have no axe to grind re formula/breastfeeding, having done both. But my initial thought was that this response was a bit over the top - Aibu?

Lidl milk is £4 a box. two boxes make up 1kg formula. £9 for 900g of cow and gate makes it a no brainer. I looked very carefully at the ingredients and the match cow and gate almost exactly. there's no minimum price so the law makes no sense.

I think it's daft, unless formula is free it doesn't matter how cheap it is, breast feeding will always be cheaper. If feels more like a penalty for women who chose not too/can't breastfeed.

There isn't, but equally this is about the big international formula companies, not Lidl etc.

OP I would contact your local Trading Standards. They'd love this.

Whilst I do understand the reasons for mass campaigns about discounted formula milk, I don't think the odd discount in a supermarket is really going to change views. Are people really going to give up breastfeeding which is virtually free becasue Tesco have a tin of formula with £2 off it this week.

I hate these groups that get so aggressive about this stuff. It just demeans their point in my view.

BertieBotts' post upthread explained it perfectly. Nobody's saying 10% off a tin of Cow & Gate will have mothers abandon bf in droves and cheerfully storm the bottles aisle. You don't slide all the way to the bottom of a slippery slope with the first step.

And promotion (of which advertising and discounting are both branches) is powerful. I'd done all the reading, was aware of all the issues, very pro-bf and deplored the practices of the formula companies. But when I very unexpectedly found myself having to supplement dc1 with formula, I still had the idea in my head that Aptamil was best. I had it from my post-natal MW, who no doubt had it from promotions.

Idea that having it cheaper 'incentivises' FF seems a bit dim since the alternative - BF - is free

Are food banks allowed to provide infant formula? If so, the store manager should have donated the tin rather than slap on the illegal yellow sticker.

Trussell trust banks aren't allowed to, at ours we pass it to the local health visitors.

It isn't about discentivising BF. Overall it is about trying to make formula cheaper by stopping companies being able to spend a fortune on promotion etc.

Speaking as a mix-feeding new mum, the whole issue is a mess im(uneducated)o.

I'm pretty sure one of the large formula brands offers "free pregnancy advice and a cute toy" - it came up for me on FB. How is that not promotion? Because I need to sign up/ join a "club" for their advice and a stuffed cow?

Separately, I have a friend with a 5 week old who is going into a depressive spiral because her baby won't take the breast. She is sleep-deprived from pumping at two hour intervals and wracked with guilt at the idea of formula while her relationship with her DD deteriorates - the NHS message of "breast is best" is actually causing harm here.

I frankly think one discounted tin of formula is neither here nor there.

Breastfeeding burns calories but that doesn't mean that less calories in = poor quality/less milk. Milk is basically a blood product, you don't make less blood or lower calory blood if you're malnourished.

You have to be seriously starving before milk is affected. It's probably not ideal for her, of course and I'm not saying that if a mother feels she wants to give up BF because it's making her feel ill, she shouldn't! But it puts people off breastfeeding/undermines confidence in breastfeeding when women think that they need to drink loads or eat a really good healthy diet in order to breastfeed successfully.

I worked in a mothercare store and the rules are to stop people switching milk depending on which brand is cheapest that week, you may not think that people would do that, but they do. It is also to prevent the stockpiling of milk as it basically essential to keep a baby alive, if there is a shortage then it could cause serious problems and switching milk is not good for babies tummies. There is also a rule that you are only allowed to purchase a certain amount of tins at any one time, I can't remember if it was 2 or 3 tubs to prevent shortages and to stop people buying them and sending them to other countries e.g China where there have been milk scandals. We did have a couple of people trying to do this.

What so if formula is cheap people will suddenly say no more breastfeeding this is really cheap now...
What about people on a budget that need formula but water it down so it lasts longer?
Argument works both ways.

The law relates to promotion of formula in a broader way, not discounting of an individual tin. You can't "promote the sale of an infant formula by means of premiums, special sales, loss leaders or tie in sales". Putting one tin in the discount rack doesn't break that law as it isn't being promoted.

It isn't about discentivising BF. Overall it is about trying to make formula cheaper by stopping companies being able to spend a fortune on promotion etc.

Right you are. I imagine one of the companies would take the competitive position of 'low pricing' rather than TV adverts tbh so I don't think that holds. There would be Tesco value formula possibly.

This all just misses the point though. Have you lot just for interest ever read the comments in the DM about breastfeeding? They are utterly utterly vile. Misogyny at its absolute worst, we don't want to see/ hear BFing, likening it to going to the toilet . But then women also are wrong for FF because they should stay in and not be seen (and people comment this, if you have a baby you should make sacrifices). This revolting attitude towards new mothers needs to be tackled by women as a whole. Concentrating on some silly law is rather missing the point.

And someone will tell me that the comments section of the mail does not reflect society. Sadly I suspect it does.

Lots of people have bits of their bodies that don't work properly. If your eyes are bad you can wear glasses, or a have help with various other conditions. However if you are unable to breastfeed it's because you aren't trying hard enough everyone can do it if they just try. Still makes me feel bad after nearly 20 years.

I agree Lily, for me though it is one part of the generally disgusting attitude towards new mothers. It's also utter bollocks that everyone can do it if they persevere because 'everyone used to do it'. That's just not true. It's a bit like saying 'everyone can survive without an asthma inhaler because people used to 100 years ago'

It’s illegal and should always be challenged. If they disobey laws like this, maybe the next law they break will be putting out food past it’s sell by date with fake stickers on them?

Ffs. I can't believe this is illegal. No matter how much you discount it it's still more expensive then breastfeeding-it's not going to insentivise ff

zeeboo breaking laws isn't always bad. Think about the suffragettes

This stuff used to come up in bfing groups all the time - they'd kick up a huge fuss and start a campaign each time and I would just think "wish they'd do it in my supermarket" since my twins were mainly on formula by then(shocking low supply despite constant bloody pumping).

I personally don't believe that anyone would give up bfing and choose formula because it's marginally discounted. I especially hate stories like those where the woman nips into Tesco just for formula but they refuse to validate her parking because that's giving a bonus to buying formula. Like a bfing mum will go into a Tesco and think "rather than the thousands of products in this store I could buy, I'm going to quit bfing and buy formula so I can get free parking". Give me a fucking break.

Formula is expensive and I would have been delighted to find a tub on the reduced shelf here or there! I agree it should be reported since it breaks the law but making such a massive self righteous issue out of it is BU

This is just craziness, I BF both of mine, when I was with relatives babies if they were ok with it I'd feed them instead of faffing about with formula. But by no means do I think anyone's doing anything wrong by formula feeding, I think the law is stupid, I also think the price of formula is pretty crazy, for saying it's the only sustenance babies get if not BF.

I've found a trend where FF is fine for all but the later children who go full eco Mummy with cloth nappies, slings, breastfeeding & co-sleeping. Just from people I know who on groups who don't seem to support a Mum in desperation, she's told it'll get easier, baby won't always on the boob 23 hours a day. (Slight exaggeration I know!) But I feel the Mums are slightly bullied into it.