It is with a sad heart that I update this earlier story about the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) new set of standards. You may recall that, with these standards, the FSA aims to “mak[e] sure the nutritional value of any formula satisfies the nutritional requirements of the infant.” The new standards also sought to bring the industry’s labeling and advertising in line with European codes.

To recap, the new standards:

• Allow only a small number of health and nutrition claims on formula packaging (i.e., lactose only, lactose free, added long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCP), reduced risk of allergy to milk proteins and nutrition linked to nucleotides, taurine and oligosaccharides).

• Allow follow-on formula to be advertised as appropriate for children older than six (not four) months.

• Disallow direct targeting of formula to new parents.

• Require ads to show pictures of children older than six months and to avoid images related to pregnancy or comparing formula to breastmilk.

It all sounds like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? Well, think again. The infant formula makers raised a legal challenge to the new standards, and I am sorry to report that they have won this round. 

The English High Court has upheld a legal challenge to the FSA’s regulations that was brought by the Infant and Dietetic Foods Association (IDFA). As a result, the manufacturers will not have to re-label their products until 2010. The delay is expected to affect the formula industry in Northern Ireland as well. 

That’s nearly two more years of potentially faulty labeling, for those of you who are keeping score. It’s hard to be patient when wondering how many families will be affected by the delay.