Baby food marketing on the agenda – civil society voice is stifled. The 150th session of WHO’s Executive Board (EB) begins next week (24-29th January) and will be hybrid format with Board members in-person and other Member States and participants…
IBFAN concerns about vulnerable groups and food safety
IBFAN to Dr. Branca. 27.10.21.Final Agenda Item 8.3 Codex Alimentarius Commission November 2021 IBFAN Food Safety Statement 2020 Dr Francesco Branca Director Nutrition and Food Safety World Health Organization Avenue Appia 20 1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland 27th September 2021 Dear…
COP26:The baby food industry’s needless destruction of an irreplaceable natural resource – a form of ecocide?
FINAL COP STATEMENT French translation The baby food industry’s destruction of an irreplaceable natural resource IBFAN Statement 5th Nov 2021 The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes [i] was adopted forty years ago by the World Health Assembly, the…
Comments on UK DRAFT DHSC Guidance Notes
FINAL GUIDELINES https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infant-and-follow-on-formula-and-food-for-special-medical-purposes https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infant-and-follow-on-formula-and-food-for-special-medical-purposes/commission-delegated-regulation-eu-2016127-supplementing-regulation-eu-no-6092013-guidance DRAFT DHSC Guidance Notes on Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/127 (supplementing Regulation (EU) No 609/2013) 16th August 2021 The UK has held a consultation on draft guidance on Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/127 for…
Join the civil society opposition the UN Food Systems Summit
Hundreds of grassroots organizations to oppose the UN Food Systems Summit Civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations launch a global counter-mobilization against the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit from 25 to 28 July 2021 in Rome and online. Rome, Italy. 19…
Boris Johnson, ‘dead bodies’ and selective amnesia on the EU
Guardian Letters Tue 27 Apr 2021 17.53 BST Tory sleaze and Boris Johnson’s careless words and deeds Les Bright, Denis MacShane, Martyn Taylor, David Wall, Patti Rundall and David Huggon respond to an article by Alan Finlayson and the latest…
Australia: consultation on the industry voluntary self-regulatory agreement (MAIF)
Consultation on the Australian voluntary self-regulatory agreement (MAIF) The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is consulting on an application by the Infant Nutrition Council (INC) for re-authorisation for current and future manufacturers in, and importers into, Australia of infant…
Food Standards Agency International Conference
I attended the Food Standards Agency International conference today. (note that the FSA is no longer responsible for nutrition in England and Wales) Supporting an evolving world – International co-operation and regulation Chair: Steven Wearne, Vice Chair at Codex…
“Improper political interference” in US baby foods puts health and scientific integrity at stake .
News stories about baby foods, toxins, improper political interference are ruffling feathers… US Oversight Subcommittee Staff Report Reveals Top Baby Foods Contain Dangerous Levels of Toxic Heavy Metals (Feb 4th 2021) News Release from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Feb…
How companies exploit the COVID-19 crisis
How companies are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic pretending their marketing through digital social media is ‘Humanitarian’ and that their products build immunity. Examples of Nestlé’s widespread promotion of NanGrow 3 – for babies over one. Nestlé implies that the addition…
COVID-19 WHO and UNICEF stress the importance of breastfeeding
COVID-19 WHO and UNICEF stress the importance of breastfeeding WHO and UNICEF are aiming to have consistent, sound reliable information based on the best available scientific evidence – guidance that will be updated as new evidence comes forward. We hope…
Codex ignores risks to health and the planet of the global trade of ultra-processed foods.
Codex boosts the trade of UPFs, ignoring the risks to health and the planet. The 43rd Codex Commission (CAC43) is meeting this week ( 24, 25, 26 September) and will discuss some important issues. Thankfully, CAC is much more…
News, articles and action you can take on UK US trade deals
Exclusive: UK trade minister reverses decision to remove think tank meetings from public register By William James, Andy Bruce 09/03/2020 LONDON (Reuters) – British trade minister Liz Truss has reversed a decision to remove meetings she held with an influential…
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…
IBFAN statement for World Food Safety Day, 7th June 2020
IBFAN STATEMENT World Food Safety Day June 7, 2020 Food Safety Everyone’s Business The WHO initiative, its second World Food Safety Day aims to draw attention to the need to prevent foodborne risks, contribute to food security, human health economic…
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…
WHO Executive Board Meeting: Biennial Reporting on the International Code under threat
WHO Executive Board Meeting, 3 February 2020 – 8 February 2020, WHO Headquarters, Geneva Event website WEBCAST HERE SEE Press release HERE IBFAN made interventions on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nurition (Agenda Item 18 see Friday pm webcast…
Court condemns Nestlé for violating Swiss Labour Law regarding its food safety manager
PRESS RELEASE Court condemns Nestlé for violating Swiss Labour Law Mrs. Yasmine Motarjemi v. Société des Produits Nestlé SA (formerly Nestec SA) Yasmine Motarjemi, Ph.D., holds an M.Sc. degree in food science and technology from the University of Languedoc, Montpellier,…
Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition – Draft One
IBFAN is a member of Food and Nutrition working group of the Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). We regularly contribute to the deliberations of the CSM-CFS through the WG. Presently, the CFS is…
Codex notes: African concerns about Additives in Liquid Milk, Cross-promotion
Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting in July 2019 (CAC42). Rough transcript of the debate about the additive Trisodium Citrate in liquid milk . (Page down for the report of the debate on the follow on formula standard and cross promotion.) For…
Codex Committee for Africa – new proposal by IBFAN
FAO/WHO COORDINATING COMMITTEE FOR AFRICA 23rd Session. Nairobi, Kenya, 2-6 September 2019 Background papers Please contact your government for support for IBFAN’s PROPOSAL FOR NEW WORK CONCERNING A REGIONAL STANDARD FOR THE LABELLING AND ADVERTISING OF BREASTMILK SUBSTITUTES AND OTHER…
IBFAN at the 42nd Codex Commission meeting in Geneva
I attended the Codex meeting in Geneva and spoke on several subjects, including the concern by African countries about additives added to liquid milk, and the need to ensure that there are safeguards against commercial interest, especially of the…
Why ‘No Deal’ would be a disaster for human health
Why ‘No Deal’ would be a disaster for human health While EU Legislation on baby food marketing fails to meet WHO marketing requirements on several important areas (1) in terms of food safety and Human Rights, EU laws are some…
Global Heating – climate emergency – Green feeding
The carbon footprint of breastmilk substitutes in comparison with breastfeeding Johan O. Karlsson, Tara Garnett, Nigel C. Rollins, Elin Roos Carbon Footprint Taking action now, worldwide – and from birth. First we need to talk about: global heating – not…
IBFAN protecting child health at the 72nd World Health Assembly
With Fedora Bernard, Katie Campbell, Britta Boutry Stadelmann IBFAN’s team is covering this year’s World Health Assembly that is taking place in Geneva from 20-28th May. It will be followed by a 2-day meeting of the Executive Board (EB). You…
IBFAN’s 3rd Breastfeeding Conference:Breastfeeding and healthy complementary feeding.
Sign up for IBFAN’s 3rd Breastfeeding Conference: Breastfeeding and healthy complementary feeding. Rio Nov 11-15th http://www.enam.org.br/ingles/index.php The International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) with the support of the Government of Brazil and public universities, proudly host a joint meeting of…
EAT-Lancet Commission’s report on sustainable health and planetary boundaries
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/unhealthy-diet-bigger-killer-than-tobacco/articleshow/68759153.cms https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/science/diet-vegetables.html I attended the debate on the EAT-Lancet Commission’s report on sustainable health and planetary boundaries on 20th February 2019. The report recommends radical changes to a low meat/high veg diet and more sustainable, extensive farming…
IBFAN at WHO’s Executive Board: tackling commercialisation of health care systems
Good article in Health Policy Watch 24th January – 1st February I’ve been at the WHO Executive Board meeting since 24th January – joining IBFAN GIFA colleagues Alessia Bigi and Fedora Bernard and partner…
Why ‘No Deal’ would be a disaster for human health.
Baby Milk Action supporters will be aware that EU Legislation on baby food marketing fails to meet WHO marketing requirements However in terms of food safety and Human Rights, EU laws are some of the world’s strongest and at Codex…
Trust WHO: The Business of Global Health
STOP PRESS: April 2020Vimeo removes the film “trustWHO” which depicts the hidden practices of the WHO Trust WHO: The Business of Global Health Investigating the hidden motives behind actions of the World Health Organisation and the real powers that control…
Baby Milk Action response:EU Brexit Consultation – The Nutrition (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018
UK Brexit Consultation. The Nutrition (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 Baby Milk Action Comment Baby Milk Action IBFAN UK EU Chronology Consultation description This two week consultation conducted by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) ended on Friday 14th.…
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…
Urgent call to protect child health from harmful trade rules
The UN committee that deals with trade – the Codex Committee on Nutrition – will be meeting in Berlin from 24th -30th November 2018. CLICK HERE for background This is a critically important meeting for child health and IBFAN and…
Conflicts of Interest and US pressure at the Codex meeting in Rome
41st CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy. 2-6 July 2018 REPORT CLICK HERE for press release on the Codex Nutrition meeting in Germany, December 2017 See Consultation Page for our latest submission on the proposed structure for a revised…
What’s all the fuss about? Q&A on 2018 World Health Assembly
U.S. Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials followed by a Tweet by President Trump that this was all ‘fake news’. Consensus text proposed by Botswana, Ecuador, The Gambia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan, Panama, Senegal shared with…
New concerns about Soy formulas
New Concerns about soy-based formulas. Babies fed soy-based formula have changes in reproductive system tissues CHOP co-author of NIH-led study: Subtle estrogen-like responses in infants point to need for longer-term follow-up of effects March 12, 2018, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia…
French salmonella baby milk scandal ‘affects 83 countries’
French salmonella baby milk scandal ‘affects 83 countries’ 14th January 2017 CLICK HERE for the BBC World Service interview with Alison Linnecar, IBFAN global working group on chemical and microbiological contamination of infant feeding products. (Click Here for the website) The…
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…
French Government calls for global withdrawal of Lactalis formulas
French Government calls for global withdrawal of Lactalis formulas. 14.12.2017 It took almost ten days for the Government of France to react to the scandal of widespread contamination of powdered formula milks produced by the giant French dairy producer Lactalis.…
New Codex Briefing: revision of Follow-up Formula Standard
New Codex Briefing IBFAN Follow-up Formula Briefing IBFAN’s Codex Working Group has prepared a briefing paper to highlight our recommendations for the revision of the Follow-up Formula Codex Standard (Codex Stan 156-1987) at the 39th Codex nutrition meeting to be held in…
Corporate power on show at the Conservative conference
Baby Milk Action is not aligned to any political party. Here are some of the notable things I spotted at the Conservative Conference in Manchester in October. Sugar and Nuclear power: With hardly any fringe events on health on the agenda, I was still…
EU MPS to debate safety on imports from Japan
STOP PRESS: CLICK HERE to hear the debate where MEPs voted in favour of the Resolution below. The Green Group of the European Parliament has proposed a Resolution about imports of food from Japan following the Fukushima disaster. The draft Motion…
Human Milk Banks – watch out for commercial exploitation.
The need for safeguards against commercial exploitation of Human Milk collection is explained in This new article by IBFAN’s Central Coordinator for Asia. India is planning a network of human breast-milk banks but first needs to put safeguards in place Breast-milk collected…
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reaffirms the need for strict controls
Latest science further protects infants The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its final guidance on 31st May on the assessment needed for food for babies under the age of 16 weeks. Following a consultation EFSA maintains the requirement for an extended one…
UN/WHO panel in conflict of interest row over glyphosate cancer risk
UN/WHO panel in conflict of interest row over glyphosate cancer risk https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/17/unwho-panel-in-conflict-of-interest-row-over-glyphosates-cancer-risk Chairman of UN’s joint meeting on pesticide residues co-runs scientific institute which received donation from Monsanto, which uses glyphosate A UN panel that on Tuesday ruled that glyphosate…
Update on Sugar in baby foods: JRC report published
Update October 2018 DG Research (JRC) has published its report: Feeding infants and young children. An analysis of national food-based dietary guidelines and specific products available in the EU market; EUR 29395 EN; Luxembourg Publications Office of the European Union,…
Ensuring correct messaging about breastfeeding in emergencies.
An example of messaging that can undermine breastfeeding and feed commonly held misconceptions. We are pleased that DEC has agreed to ensure that future appeals following our complaint about this full page appeal in the Guardian today. Disasters Emergency Appeal…
England, NI and Wales: Improvement Notices introduced today to enforce EU formula and baby food marketing rules – companies face criminal charges for non compliance
Baby Milk Action press release 20 July 2016 The UK Government and devolved authorities have today introduced Statutory Instruments updating formula and baby food marketing laws in line with new EU regulations. Although the Regulations fall far short of international minimum standards repeatedly…
Brexit and what it means for our work protecting infant and young child health
Click here to download this briefing as a pdf file. The UK has now voted in the referendum on its membership of the European Union (EU). There are pros and cons to any decision and one so momentous for the…
EU parliament slams aid scheme that uses big agribusiness to ‘feed Africa’
STOP PRESS CLICK HERE for yesterday’s vote in the EU Parliament slamming of the New Alliance Aid scheme CLICK HERE for IBFAN’s concerns about the role of business in the Scaling Up Nutrition initiative EU parliament slams aid scheme that uses big agribusiness…