Infant milks
Information for health workers
Our partner site
First Steps Nutrition Trust host and regularly update their partner site infantmilkinfo.org which contains comprehensive information about infant milks (for 0-12 month olds) available on the UK market. On this website we provide information about the types of infant milks on the UK market and provide compositional information for infant formula, follow-on formula and infant milks marketed as foods for special medical purposes that are available for sale over the counter.
Composition and claims
First Steps Nutrition Trust provides a one stop shop for information on infant milks marketed in the UK. We provide information on the composition of infant milks, the claims made and the usefulness and safety of ingredients. We gather together all the information needed to support families who use these products to feed their infants.
Working within the Code
The International Code of marketing of breastmilk substitutes and all the subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions are global agreements designed to protect all babies from unscrupulous marketing and claims about alternatives to breastmilk. Some but not all of the Code and resolutions are written into regulation in the UK, which means that advertising of follow on formula, and advertising to health professionals is permissible.
Everyone working in Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative accredited settings however pledges to work within the Code and resolutions, and we are pleased to work in partnership with them to support health professionals in this.
Background information
In this section we summarise the history of infant milks, how infant milk composition is regulated, and the current infant feeding patterns in the UK. The UK and international markets for infant milks are also summarised in this section.
Making up infant milks safely
It is important that infant milks are made up safely. Powdered infant formula is not sterile and needs to be made up a temperature which will kill any potential bacteria present. All equipment needs to be sterilised, and it is important to know how to make up and store milk safely. Here you can link to useful information on making up milks safely, how to use vaccum flasks safely when making up milk on the move and the safety of electrical milk preparation machines (such as Tommy Tippee Perfect Prep™).