Since 1989, when formula companies lifted their previous voluntary ban on marketing directly to consumers, the market has grown by 54 percent. However, the simple fact is that breast-feeding itself is the most dangerous and formidable competitor formula companies have. Because the companies that produce formula also develop and market medications and medical supplies, they must be acutely aware that the higher rates of illness suffered by formula-fed children as a group also affects their bottom line, possibly even more than the sale of the formula itself. For example, Abbott Laboratories, aside from making Similac and Isomil, also produces Pediasure, an oral rehydrating solution for infants and young children with diarrheal disease. The company also produces antibiotics widely used to treat infant infections, as well as products for diabetics.
Experts agree that there is a role for the appropriate use of commercial infant formula.
It should always be used for infants under 12 months in lieu of any type of homemade formula or whole cow, goat, or soy milk. The problem, they say, is with the way it is marketed and represented to parents. The way these companies market it as equivalent to breast milk and just one equal choice among several is wrong. The third choice is the milk of another human mother. The fourth and last choice is artificial baby milk.