Newsflash

Shops are currently unable to sell formula as breastfeeding rates soar!

I take this kind of promotion as a good sign and I do a little yippee dance at the thought of all the people not buying the formula before it goes out of date. I don't mind how people decide to feed  their babies really but BFing is a healthy choice and we have to celebrate those whether it be people doing the couch to 5k or people BFing.

Many others are not impressed at all by this kind of promotion. WHO does not allow formula for babies under 6 months to be sold at a reduced rate or included in any promotions. (You'll often see it is excluded from points schemes and such). Nor can it be advertised or promoted to pregnant women. It has been well established that advertising formula and giving discounts is a good marketing strategy and has a significant impact on breastfeeding rates, so it's not just that the WHO are being mean to those who decided for one reason or another not to breastfeed. There will no doubt be complaints about this "reduced to clear" as it is entirely illegal. 

If you spot something like this, do your little yippee dance since nobody is buying formula and breastfeeding rates are soaring and then speak to the manager as the promotion may well be a simple oversight - it's against Irish regulations and the International code so you can look into reporting it further here if no action is taken:  IBFAN Ireland.