STOP PRESS: “Press release IDEC wins over Nestlé, 4 July2022 Court orders Nestlé to clearly signal the difference between infant formulas and growing-up milks IDEC filed a lawsuit against the company for cross-promotion that causes confusion for consumers It…
4 new WHO reports expose marketing by the $55 billion formula milk industry
Dr Tedros explains why the predatory marketing baby feeding products can harm children and announces the new WHO reports on predatory marketing. WHO UNICEF multi-country report – How marketing of formula milk influences our decisions on infant feeding WHO report…
39K people call for immediate halt to an unethical formula study in Uganda and Guinea-Bissau
. HELP STOP UNETHICAL FORMULA RESEARCH ON BABIES PLEASE remember to sign and share this petition that 39,000 have signed so far, with numerous comments posted to the journal website. STOP PRESS: Questioning the ethics of international research on…
Update 49 – Harm caused by the exploitation of Covid, ultra-processing and more
CLICK HERE for UD49 Please let us know if you would like to join Baby Milk Action as a member (to join see www.babymilkacion.org/shop. Our Annual General Meeting (an online Webinar) is open to our members on Tuesday, 29th…
Citizen-Petition-argues-toddler-milks-threaten-children-s-health-and-pose-economic-harm-to-families
Thanks to Marsha Walker for sending this good news from the USA regarding action on. the marketing of follow-on/toddler milks. Citizen-Petition-argues-toddler-milks-threaten-children-s-health-and-pose-economic-harm-to-families In a Citizen’s Petition, children’s health advocates are ramping up pressure on FDA to curb the rapidly growing sales…
Is ZeroSeparation Astroturfing? How business groups use babies to recruit allies
A new Zero Separation campaign was launched on 9th July by the European Foundation for the Care of Newborn infants (EFCNI) through an entity called GLANCE – the Global Alliance for Newborn Care. You can see the host on NGOs…
Health and nutrition claims for infant formula are poorly substantiated and potentially harmful
Guidance for the Conduct and Reporting of Clinical Trials of Breast Milk Substitutes Another important paper has been published in JAMA using the output from a global Delphi project which aims to protect breastfeeding when clinical trials of BMS are…
No ‘sunset clause’ please! NGOs call for vigilance on harmful marketing
Press Release PDF No ‘sunset clause’ please! NGOs call for vigilance on harmful marketing WHO Executive Board meeting, Geneva, 7th February 2020 Civil society NGOs attending WHO’s Executive Board meeting ahead of the May World Health Assembly are protesting against…
Nestlé under fire again
Milk for older babies Nestlé struggles to win over baby formula critics By Jessica Davis Plüss This content was published on January 10, 2020 11:00 AM Jan 10, 2020 Growing-up milk, specially-formulated for older infants, generated the majority of sales growth…
Petition on baby food contamination
People can support this call by signing an email action in French or German. Laboratory Tests: Suspected Carcinogenic Mineral Oil Residues in Baby Milk Foodwatch News24.10.2019 https://www.foodwatch.org/en/news/2019/foodwatch-laboratory-tests-suspected-carcinogenic-mineral-oil-residues-in-baby-milk/ Mineral oil in foods Tests have found baby milk products contaminated with harmful…
Royal College of Pediatrics will no longer accept funding from formula companies
Click here and here for previous blogs. Click here for Quartz article Royal college stops taking funding from formula milk firms BMJ 2019; 364 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l743 (Published 14 February 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;364:l743 https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/news/rcpch-statement-relationship-formula-milk-companies RCPCH statement on relationship…
New articles on conflicts of interest and other things
Broadening its donor base and non-state actors – Does WHO really have a choice when it comes to financing? Priti Patnaik. Weekly IHP news: http://www.internationalhealthpolicies.org/ ___________________________________________________________ Article on WHO by Alison Katz. Le Courrier 20.1.2019 Health for All https://lecourrier.ch/2019/01/20/liberer-loms-du-joug-neoliberal/ HforAll40yearsSept2018…
Time to call a halt to Multi-Stakeholder Platforms – including the EU Platform for Action on Diet Physical Activity and Health.
Joint meeting of the High Level Group on Nutrition and Physical Activity and the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health on 26 October 2018, in Luxembourg Joint Meeting Agenda Platform Agenda Minutes of the Platform meeting…
More media coverage following President Trump’s tweet.
The media coverage following the New York Times exposé continues with over 600 online editorial articles and about 900 social media posts. Below are just some of the recent articles and programs including one from 2015 that gives an insight…
Plastic particles found in bottled water
Plastic particles found in bottled water David Shukman BBC Science editor CLICK HERE http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-43388870 Tests on major brands of bottled water (including Nestlé and Danone) have found that nearly all of them contained tiny particles of plastic. In the largest investigation of…
French and US Trade delegations put child health at risk
CLICK HERE for PDF in Spanish French and US Trade delegations put child health at risk 39th Codex Alimentarius Nutrition Committee (CCNFSDU), Berlin, Germany 4th – 8th December 2017 The nutrition committee of the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission – the UN body…
Global Monitoring Reports
Global monitoring Reports on baby food marketing
UK and US responses to Fed is Best website
Fed is Best https://fedisbest.org/about/ A new organisation has sprung up called Fed is Best. It is being organised by Dr Christine Del Castillo – Hegyi – a physician based in the USA. Fed is Best seems to be attacking the BFHI 10 Steps…
Feeding babies in neonatal units – how an important campaign nearly got derailed.
Here is a letter from Professor Mary Renfrew of Dundee University that explains what happened when an appeal got thrown open to all and sundry. Dear colleagues You may remember the correspondence a few weeks ago about this Open…
Paediatricians criticise college survey on links with formula milk firms
PDF: bmj.i4555.full Paediatricians criticise college survey on links with formula milk firms BMJ 2016; 354 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i4555 (Published 17 August 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;354:i4555 Paediatricians campaigning for their royal college to sever its links with infant formula milk…
It is World Breastfeeding Week – what you can do to promote it and stop formula companies hijacking it
It is World Breastfeeding Week, promoted by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). In the UK, you can sign a Call to Action to change the conversation around breastfeeding on the UNICEF UK website. Also see the joint statement…
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child calls on UK government to better support breastfeeding and regulate the formula industry
Baby Milk Action press release 10 June 2016 Update 14 July 2016: Recommendations from the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights added The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has issued its concluding observations on the UK…
Mothers need support not pressure – Baby Milk Action presentation to MPs
Click here to share this information using our new format for social media, smartphones and tablets (also works on computers). Baby Milk Action’s presentation to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Infant Feeding and Inequalities – 17 May 2016…
Launch of joint WHO/UNICEF IBFAN monitoring report
Launch of new WHO/UNICEF/IBFAN Report: Breast-milk Substitutes: National Implementation of the International Code Status Report 2016 Followed by showing of Tigers WHO, UNICEF and IBFAN are hosting an evening of discussion on national implementation of the International Code of…
Commission Report on Young Child Formula
The Commission has published its long awaited report on Young Child Formula. Despite the fact that Member States wanted action, the Commission proposes no effective action, and leaves these products opento the market Nutraingredients: No new legislation needed on ‘growing…
Paediatricians call on royal college to drop financial ties to infant formula firms
TEXT OF THE MOTION TO BE VOTED ON 27th April 2016: “In order for RCPCH as a professional body to avoid institutional conflicts of interest and thus maintain its reputation as an unbiased, independent educator and advocate for child health,…
As Nestle boasts of infant formula sales growth, Botswana police file charges over aggressive marketing, while Tesco puts formula with “excessive protein” on clearance sale in breach of UK law
Baby Milk Action press release 18 February 2016 Nestle today launched its latest full-year results, reporting 4.2% organic growth, stating: “Infant formula including growing-up milks, delivered good growth”. This growth comes from systematic violations of baby milk marketing standards adopted…
European Parliament votes for big reductions in sugar in baby foods and prohibitions on labelling at too early an age.
CLICK HERE for the new DELEGATED ACTS Click Here for BMJ article. bmj.i553.full PRESS RELEASE European Parliament votes for big reductions in sugar in baby foods and prohibitions on labelling at too early an age. 20th January 2016 European Parliament, Strasbourg …
New European Union regulations
Baby food regulations: 6-months recommendation and less sugar Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted on 19 January 2016 (393 votes in favour, 305 votes against) to reject draft EU rules on baby food, which would have allowed baby foods…
The problem with the Access to Nutrition Index
2016 Access to Nutrition Index (ATNI) launch for Academics and International NGOs. The Wellcome Foundation, London Friday 15th January 2016 I attended the Gates-Wellcome-CIFF-funded ATNI index that was created by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) in 2012 and scores major food…
Dietary public health research and the food industry. Towards a consensus?
I attended this conference in Cambridge, on Dietary public health research and the food industry on 11th December organised by the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (AUKCRC Public Health Research Centre of Excellence) Here is an article that followed: Limb_2015_foodLimb_2015_food Meanwhile…
Health visitors caught up in Nestle v Danone formula marketing war
The Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association (CPHVA) is a member of the Baby Feeding Law Group (BFLG), which works for the baby feeding industry to be better regulated. It is worrying to see it being targeted by Nestlé and…
The Guardian responds to Baby Milk Action over Danone-sponsored content
Update 18 May 2015: Guardian Readers’ Editor says Danone-sponsored content “a mistake” – Update 23 July 2015: Guardian.com Editor accepts this conclusion and thanks Baby Milk Action for prompting more rigorous scrutiny of sponsors. Baby Milk Action received a response from…
Media studies: Danone-sponsored content in The Guardian
Update 18 May 2015: Guardian Readers’ Editor says Danone-sponsored content “a mistake” What happens when a newspaper runs content sponsored by corporations? The following is a case study looking at the new business model being pursued by The Guardian newspaper in…
New EU rules will trick parents into buying expensive and unnecessary products that will fuel the obesity crisis
PDF: IBFANBFLG EU PR 24.2.15v3 CLICK HERE for BFLG briefing PRESS RELEASE 24 February 2015 New EU rules will trick parents into buying expensive and unnecessary products that will fuel the obesity crisis Health advocates from across Europe have decried new rules…
Trade vs Health – global meeting fails to safeguard infant and young child health
Trade vs Health – global meeting fails to safeguard infant and young child health Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary UsesBali, Indonesia 24-28th November 2014 CLICK HERE for PDF version Infant and young child feeding was once…
Nestle cancels health worker event in UK – but targets parents with baby show in Ireland
Media coverage: Irish Examiner 28 August 2014. Update 31 August: People concerned about Nestlé promoting its SMA formula brand through the pregnancy and baby show in Dublin produced leaflets with the support of Baby Milk Action to offer to those…
Nestle exploits World Breastfeeding Week as part of formula growth strategy
Baby Milk Action press release 6 August 2014 World Breastfeeding Week, promoted by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), takes place 1 – 7 August 2014, but this year it is being hijacked by Nestlé in a number of countries. This…
US infant formula hospital stance ‘confuses’ domestic law and WHO Code
US infant formula hospital stance ‘confuses’ domestic law and WHO Code: UNICEF, PAHO By Mark Astley+ , 16-Jun-2014 The International Formula Council (IFC) “confuses” US law and the WHO Code when defending the practice of supplying free infant formula samples for hospital discharge bags, the…
International action is needed to stand up to corporations
I have just joined the call for a binding international treaty to address corporate human rights abuses! You can do so to here. The United Nations Human Rights Council is meeting at the moment (10 – 27 June) and an international civil…
IBFAN report launch 16 May 2014 – Companies continue to violate the International Code
Press release 16 May 2014 Media coverage: Dairyreporter Breaking the Rules, Stretching the Rules 2014 will be launched on 16 May 2014 at the Club Suisse de la Presse in Geneva by Annelies Allain, Director of the International Code Documentation Centre (IBFAN…
Spotlight on ASDA promoting Danone Cow & Gate formula – send us your photos and reports
Danone promotion of its Cow & Gate brand of baby milk in ASDA has been brought to Baby Milk Action’s attention. We are communicating with ASDA about the promotion and the misleading claims being used in it. Curiously, ASDA told…
Danone steps up promotion in the UK in violation of national and international regulations
Baby Milk Action has been contacted repeatedly about two events being sponsored by Danone in the UK in coming days: Tommy’s baby race on 30 June, promoting the Cow & Gate formula brand, and a Royal College of Midwives training…
Danone v. Nestle and conflicts of interest in the UK and Ireland
Following Nestlé’s entry into the UK and Irish formula markets in December 2012, when it finalised its takeover of Pfizer Nutrition/Wyeth and the SMA brand, we are starting to see more aggressive baby milk marketing practices, both from Nestlé and…
Danone steps up baby milk promotion in Ireland by branding Barnardos Ireland’s Big Toddle events with Cow & Gate formula logo as it rations formula in UK
Press release 25 April 2013 Media coverage: Irish Independent 2 May Danone has branded its sponsorship of Barnardos Ireland’s Big Toddle event running in 2013 with its Cow & Gate formula logo (left, image from the event Facebook page). At…
UNICEF Lao report shows companies violating the marketing requirements
A new monitoring report commissioned by UNICEF Lao has just become available and looks at marketing from November 2011 to January 2012. The monitoring found sales representatives, principally from Nestlé and Danone, targeting health workers, shop keepers and parents. The…
Danone v. Nestle formula marketing war reaches the UK
Baby Milk Action press release 9 April 2013 Campaigners are pointing to new aggressive baby milk marketing practices in the UK as a sign of increased competition with Nestlé entering the UK market, where Danone is currently the largest company.…
Stop Pfizer/Wyeth and Danone stealing the good names of health workers in Ireland
Media coverage: Irish Times 16 November 2012, The Sunday Business Post 16 November. Baby Milk Action has been asked to support a campaign in Ireland against baby food companies sponsoring awards to health workers. The event’s main sponsor is Pfizer/Wyeth,…
WHO Global Forum in Moscow. Tackling food-related diseases: voluntary measures or regulation – carrot or stick?
27th April, 2011 WHO Global Forum in Moscow. Tackling food-related diseases: voluntary measures or regulation – carrot or stick? Press Release PDF http://www.who.int/nmh/events/moscow_ncds_2011/conference_documents/presentations/en/index.html The World Health Organization’s global forum in Moscow on 27th April, Addressing the challenge of noncommunicable diseases, sparked concern…