Should infant formula be available at UK food banks? Evaluating different pathways to ensuring parents in financial crisis can access infant formula.

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The cost-of-living crisis is increasing food insecurity, causing stress particularly for families with babies and young children. Within this, high infant formula costs and supply issues mean that formula fed babies are increasingly vulnerable.Foodbanks offer important help for those experiencing financial insecurity or crisis. However, at present, guidance is to not allow donations of infant formula milk. This is in place to protect babies from harm and ensure that breastfeeding is not undermined. Donations are likely to be inconsistent due to high product cost and may include milks unsuitable for young babies. Allowing donations of infant formula is likely to lead to infant formula companies seeing this as a promotional opportunity, taking advantage of parents at a stressful time. Instead, it is recommended that families in need are directed to their health visitor, to receive a package of support including additional support to access formula.Given the health implications of infant feeding, and that infants who are not breastfed must receive formula milk until they are 12 months old, the issue is seen as too important to be dependent on donations. More suitable options to help families may include a cash first approach or further allowances to the Healthy Start scheme which can be used to purchase formula. However, recent media articles argue that this stance is unequitable and discriminatory against families who rely on infant formula. Proponents criticise the need to seek further support via a health professional, arguing that this causes delay and places babies at harm. Together with perceptions of poor infant feeding support this can increase risk of mental health difficulties at a time of significant stress.This presents a clear public health dilemma. Although the food bank guidance has a clear rationale, research has not explored the breadth and impact of this issue. The aim of our research is therefore to explore the perspectives of a range of key groups affected by this guidance including parents on a low income and/or who have accessed food banks, health professionals, third sector and charity organisations and food banks to co-develop an intervention to test for future provision. Using surveys and interviews we will explore:To what extent is there a need and desire for donations of formula milk to be allowed via UK food banks? Who has asked for formula, in what context and what is the impact of supplying or not supplying formula?How do families living in poverty or those in crisis currently access formula milk? How visible, transparent, acceptable and equitable are these current processes?What are the potential new models and what might those look like?What are the potential risks and benefits for these different models to provide formula including safety, consistency, equity, protection of breastfeeding and impact upon parental mental health?Bringing these findings together we will invite parents, professionals and organisations to workshops to consider what the impacts, including risks and benefits of different approaches to accessing formula milk for families in need could be, such as via food banks, health professional referral or cash first approaches / Healthy Start allowance increases.Together we will develop a preferred intervention and then seek to test its impact upon access to infant formula, parental mental health and safe infant feeding practices.