REQUIREMENTS:
- Visit http://urlbrief.com/a0942e and test out the baby formula savings calculator.

- Review the release below and explain it to your readers in your own words.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
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’s free and can save you up to $2,000 a year on formula costs.

WIC, a federal agency that provides food, nutrition counseling, and access to health services to low-income women, infants, and children, has introduced a new food package that encourages breastfeeding. 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.

If you select the breastfeeding package, women will not receive any infant formula. Additionally, women who partially breastfeed or formula feed exclusively will receive 13 percent less formula than was afforded in previous years. This means parents who previously had most of their formula paid for by WIC may now have to purchase regular-formula on their own.

“In the United States there are no generic infant formulas. 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.”