Aptamil and Cow & Gate I've been conned

jetplane

Didn't know where to put this I suppose it's for dads too. After searching empty shelves for aptamil anti-reflux milk my daughter rang aptamil and was told to use cow & gate as it is exactly the same milk??

This I could not believe so I rang aptamil myself and used the live chat and rang cow & gate, under various disguises :rotfl:. Without suggestion, they all advised that their milk is the same, I challenged the price difference (£1.50 extra for aptamil) and was told that the extra pennies were to pay for research as aptimal were the lead and cow & gate were the sister company. I questioned them on changing a baby's milk and was reassured that the milk is exactly the same so there would be no problem. I compared the ingredients on the 2 boxes, exactly the same, in the same order, the same values but £78 a year cheaper, based on 1 box a week :eek:

How can this be? What a rip off.

P.S. They clearly didn't spend the extra pennies on market research on their reflux milk as they have ran out due to unforeseen demand. This annoyed me even more as the milk is out of stock in store and online :mad:

Rant over, my daughter will now save £1.50 every time

Gillyx

Yep I always try and tell people about this, same box, same ingredients different labelling.

Marketers dream :eek: I'm assuming the extra cost is to pay for all the fancy Aptamil adverts.

I too bought Aptamil as even midwives and doctors tend to tell you it's the superior formula. Awful

withabix

jetplane wrote: »

they have ran out due to unforeseen demand. This annoyed me even more as the milk is out of stock in store and online

For some reason they are running short of horses to milk.

Can't imagine why

ellay864

Its no difference really to paying a couple of quid for a packet of Nurofen or a fraction of that for a generic ibuprofen. Or when certain foods are manufactured by the same company for different supermarkets who will then package and price differently.
Just check the ingredients and if they're the same, and in the same quantities just go for the cheapest option

jetplane

ellay864 wrote: »

Its no difference really to paying a couple of quid for a packet of Nurofen or a fraction of that for a generic ibuprofen. Or when certain foods are manufactured by the same company for different supermarkets who will then package and price differently.
Just check the ingredients and if they're the same, and in the same quantities just go for the cheapest option

I agree but as Gillyx says aptamil is promoted as the superior milk by HV, midwives etc, who also advise not to swap milks, and there are a lot of ingredients to compare.

peachyprice

Gillyx wrote: »

I too bought Aptamil as even midwives and doctors tend to tell you it's the superior formula. Awful

It did used to be, certainly when my sons were babies, almost 18 years ago . Aptamil were at the forefront of development and were the only one to have the enzymes similar to breastmilk. I guess the rest caught up so they bought them out.

I guess the HV's and midwives haven't caught up yet though.

jetplane

peachyprice wrote: »

It did used to be, certainly when my sons were babies, almost 18 years ago . Aptamil were at the forefront of development and were the only one to have the enzymes similar to breastmilk. I guess the rest caught up so they bought them out.

I guess the HV's and midwives haven't caught up yet though.

Aptamil is still promoted as being the preferred substitute to breast milk. The company representative said they are still at the forefront of research which is why their milk is more expensive. However when my grandson was in special care their stock was sma and when I asked if this was what they would recommend they said no we just get it free.

harty999

Thanks for the money saving tip. That's the milk my wee man uses which always seems to be the most expensive. I have noticed recently my local Sainsbury is always out of stock so we have had to go to Asda

DevilsAdvocate1

If its out of stock everywhere then there might have been a recall. Sometimes companies keep recalls quiet and pay people to go in and buy up all the stock.

chazsucks

jetplane wrote: »

I agree but as Gillyx says aptamil is promoted as the superior milk by HV, midwives etc, who also advise not to swap milks, and there are a lot of ingredients to compare.

It shouldn't be, midwives are not allowed to advise one formula over another. If they do you need to report them x

chazsucks

peachyprice wrote: »

Aptamil were at the forefront of development and were the only one to have the enzymes similar to breastmilk.

No formula has enzymes similar to breastmilk. They market it by stating things like 'closest to breastmilk', however this is in the 'not permitted' category of infant formula claims. It's like saying the closest thing to a brick is a piece of wood (when the other options are trees). Excuse my lame metaphor