There’s a lot of fuss over baby formula and its not coming from babies. A U.S. Federal court has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop one of the largest formula companies in America, Mead Johnson, the maker of Enfamil®, from spreading any information that is false about store brand infant formulas, distributed by its smallest competitor — PBM Products. And, the court ordered that Mead Johnson must retrieve all of its previously disseminated promotional materials regarding store brand formulas. The problem for Mead started three years ago when store brand infant formulas were first introduced. Quickly embraced by mass merchandisers like Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target, Kroger, Albertson’s, CVS and others, the lower cost alternatives have become the fastest growing infant formulas in America.
Mead responded with aggressive marketing materials that claim store brand formulas are inferior. By law, however, infant formulas are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which sets minimum, and in some cases maximum, standards to ensure that all formulas sold in the United States are nutritionally complete. Store brand formulas, like their brand name competitors, meet or exceed all FDA requirements. According to the FDA, all formula that meets its standards can be “neither superior nor inferior.” Therefore, the only significant difference among brands is price. PBM’s store brand formulas sell for up to 40 percent less than Enfamil®.
Manufactured by Wyeth Nutritionals, store brand formulas are made with the same type of high-quality raw materials and meet the same FDA nutritional standards as Mead Johnson’s Enfamil and Ross Product’s Similac. Parents are finding the most significant difference between store brand formulas and the national brands is the savings - about $500 a year.
