The UK infant formula market is diverse and can be daunting for parents to navigate. With rising prices exacerbating these challenges, women find themselves under increased pressure to make cost-effective yet health-adequate decisions for their infants. While regulatory efforts ensure standardisation in infant formula composition, the actual information presented on the packaging can be inscrutable. This complexity potentially misleads consumers, affecting the decisions of new parents, particularly those made against a backdrop of maternal guilt around formula feeding driven by current NHS policy.

The present study aims to test whether straightforward and easily comprehensible shelf-edge labels can demystify formula product offerings, leading to better-informed choices. By focusing on how such labels impact purchasing decisions, especially in the context of identical nutritional profiles across different brands, this study seeks to determine whether transparency at the point of sale can steer consumer behaviour towards more rational and economically sound purchases in the infant formula sector.