Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to include dairy-free milks for children with dairy allergies in the healthy start voucher scheme.
Answer
Healthy Start vouchers can be exchanged for fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables, plain cow’s milk and infant formula. These products are set out in legislation. The Healthy Start Scheme and Welfare Food (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/267) expand this from 1 October 2020 to include pulses and canned fruit and vegetables, but not those to which fat, salt, sugar or flavouring have been added.
The Healthy Start scheme is kept under continuous review to ensure the products set out in legislation meet the aims of the scheme and the needs of families who use it.