I do think that the fact that the same people are often trying to make the guidelines for both situations explains a lot of the tone. But in reality, different things are appropriate in different situations, so I think those guidelines have to be taken with a grain of salt.

I have wondered whether this was the case: certainly here (England) one gets a kind of "formula is bad for your baby!" overtone from some of the guidance. Although now I can't think of any examples -- perhaps just a gneral sens that you were putting your infant's health at risk by bottle-feeding or even supplementing. It did seem to me that maybe it was a carry-over from situations where preparing sterile bottles and getting clean water were difficult or even impossible.