|
Breastfeeding is Best:
Save up to $2,000 a Year
Breastfeeding is best for babies and the best way to feed infants—the American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes it as the gold standard in infant nutrition. In fact, the benefits of breastfeeding are indisputable.
Experts and the federal government want American mothers to save money by encouraging them to breastfeed. Mothers should breastfeed because it's the best nutritional option and it makes the most economic sense; it is free and can save them up to $2,000 a year on formula costs.
The new program, mandated for all states, reallocates funding for all currently provided foods, including infant formula, baby foods, juices, and fresh fruits and vegetables. There is a concerted effort to increase breastfeeding and a greater emphasis has been placed on making ethnic foods, especially soy, available to WIC participants.
WIC has developed an attractive package aimed at getting mothers to select the total breastfeeding option. If your WIC food package doesn’t cover all your infant formula needs, you can trust the quality and value of store brand infant formulas.
Store Brand Infant Formula:
Save up to $600 a Year
Store brand, also known as private-label, infant formulas are labeled with the names of retail store brands and typically save up to 50 percent versus name-brand formulas for a potential savings of $600 a year per baby. That’s one reason why hundreds of thousands of parents have switched from name-brand formulas to a store brand. Here’s another reason: nutritional equivalence.
If parents choose to formula feed and need to buy formula, store brand infant formula, which is labeled with the "store brand" names of retailers such as Walmart, Sam's Club, Target, CVS, Kroger, Walgreens, and Babies "R" Us, are nutritionally comparable to more expensive national brand formulas and are subject to the same exacting standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pursuant to the Infant Formula Act of 1980. This legislation vested FDA with the authority to ensure that all infant formula products sold in the United States provide the necessary levels of identified nutrients required for the growth of healthy babies.
"In the United States, the truth is all infant formulas are subject to the same regulations governing manufacturing and ingredients as stipulated by the Infant Formula Act," said Dr. Barbara Levine, Weill Cornell Medical College. "Store brand infant formulas sold at major retailers are therefore a premium nutritional substitute at a value price and meet the same exacting FDA nutritional requirements as all the major brands. As a nutritionist I know the truth about infant formula: there is no nutritional reason to buy the much more expensive formulas sold by the big pharmaceutical companies. The quality and safety of the manufacturing are also inspected in same way by the FDA."
Store Brand Infant Formula is "Federally WIC Eligible"
Store brand infant formulas:
- Are available under most retailers’ own labels
- Are "Federally WIC Eligible" (reviewed by WIC and can be used in
government programs)
- Fulfill all the quality and nutritional requirements of the FDA (just like the national brands)
- Cost up to 50% less* than the national brands so you can save up to
$25 a month!
Remember: If you use Enfamil®, Similac®, or Nestle® under the WIC program and you need to buy more infant formula, no national name offers more complete nutrition or higher quality than a store brand.
|