STOP Press

STOP PRESS: Following the criticism Tesco drops its Danone sponsored scheme. 

Following criticism from First Steps Nutrition Trust, Baby Feeding Law Group and Baby Milk Action, the supermarket giant Tesco has abandoned its plans to roll out a scheme in which midwives, paid by Danone, provide infant feeding advice. Referring to Nestlé’s notorious “Milk Nurses” of the 1970s, the British Medical Journal interviewed Marina Jordan, a midwife who took part in the Tesco pilot before quitting, saying “There is a clear ethical line that shouldn’t be crossed… My hope is that this serves as a reminder that people deserve truly unbiased, evidence-based information to make informed decisions, without marketing agendas creeping in.”  Midwives were paid £40 an hour, nearly double the NHS rate, but were expected to wear uniforms with a “massive Aptaclub logo” with the same colour, font, and imagery as Danone’s Aptamil products. Danone claimed that “it intended only to provide “impartial, nutritional expertise,” and that it adhered  “fully to the WHO code as implemented in UK regulations, and this trial is not inbreach of that.”
Some of Tesco’s services remain, but the Danone / Aptaclub infant feeding one is no longer available:
15 January 2025.  British Medical Journal confirms that Tesco is discontinuing the partnership:
Coombes R. Unethical infant feeding service is axed in Tesco climbdown. BMJ 2025;388:r81 
8 January 2025 BMJ: Danone’s use of midwives to give branded infant feeding advice in supermarket sparks anger
Sky News, the Independent, the Standard:
https://news.sky.com/story/tesco-criticised-for-unethical-formula-funded-midwife-advice-trial-13285846
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tesco-baby-formula-milk-advice-trial-b2676175.html
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/tesco-ireland-cheshunt-world-health-organisation-unicef-b1203724.html
The following a link on Global Player takes you to exactly where the conversation on this topic starts, but you need to log into a Global player account:https://www.globalplayer.com/catchup/lbc/london/episodes/BUsbaKyvfyH6p5fX4SGwY996V/?t=7394

Tesco/Danone targets mothers in UK High Streets 

The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes Article  5.5:  “Marketing personnel, in their business capacity, should not seek direct or indirect contact of any kind with pregnant women or with mothers of infants and young children.

Tesco is offering customers a package of health services while they shop in one of its stores with a planned roll-out to other stores.  The scheme involves a range services (oral health, menopause support, etc with various companies (Bupa, Stella, etc.) but its inclusion of Danone  the world’s second biggest baby milk manufacturer and distributor  blatantly violates the International Code.

Danone is providing funding for health professionals to be paid to provide support during pregnancy and infant feeding, through the AptaClub brand (Aptamil is Danone’s brand of Infant Formula) while  claiming that “Aptaclub is impartial and not Aptamil or Danone” .
  • Aptaclub from Danone – For any questions about pregnancy, childbirth or feeding little ones? Talk to a healthcare professional in private for support at every step of the parenting journey. Book an appointment here
  •  Customers can either approach the midwives in store or make a booking here
  • What topic would you like to discuss? Our dedicated in store professional is here to support you with a range of topics from pregnancy guidance and including maternal mental & physical health to infant feeding, including breastfeeding, feeding concerns and weaning. More details on our full range of services can be found on the booking form when selecting your appointment.Please note: this is an advisory service only. All formal appointments should be maintained with your midwife as per NHS guidelines. We are unable to provide any medical treatments or tests in-store.
Why this is so wrong:
 Article  5.5 of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes adopted in 1981 in law – to some extent –  in over 100 countries has always been clear:  Marketing personnel, in their business capacity, should not seek direct or indirect contact of any kind with pregnant women or with mothers of infants and young children.
However, as a result of industry lobbying,  many of national laws contain many serious loopholes that allow harmful promotion commercial  promotion to continue.
The UK law for example refers only to ‘direct contact with pregnant women or with mothers of infants and young children’.
Several WHA Resolutions have been adopted since 1981 that have clarified and strengthened the International Code, specifically calling for Conflicts of Interest safeguards.  
HERE  is a neat booklet with them all together. 
____________________________________________________________________________

Danone is clearly exploiting loopholes in UK legislation before the Competition Market Authority (CMA) delivers its recommendations in early 2025.  the CMA interim report was instigated because of the concerns about the high prices of  Danone and Nestlé formulas.

For more information on the UK law see the Baby Feeding Law Group:   We will be submitting comments and suggestions before the deadline 28th November, urging the Government to bring the UK fully into line with the International Code and Resolutions.  This would protect all babies however they are fed.   Here is an interim  statement

Statistics

  • Prices for baby formula in the UK rose by 18-36%, depending on the brand, over the 2 years between December 2021 and December 2023.
  • The infant formula market is highly concentrated: just 3 firms account for over 90% of supply.
  • Evidence reviewed by the CMA shows that parents could make a saving of up to £300-500 over a baby’s first year of life by switching to a lower priced brand.

. Competition and Markets Authority 8 November 2024

The concerns identified in the CMA interim report relate to:

  • the unintended consequences of the regulations designed to support important public health goals
  • a lack of timely, clear and impartial information for parents and carers about formula
  • companies’ responses to regulations around marketing – and how this impacts their pricing
  • limited competition on formula prices in shops

COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2016/127of 25 September 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 609/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the specific compositional and information requirements for infant formula and follow-on formula and as regards requirements on information relating to infant and young child feeding

Article 10.  Requirements for promotional and commercial practices for infant formula

1.  Advertising of infant formula shall be restricted to publications specialising in baby care and scientific publications Member States may further restrict or prohibit such advertising. Such advertising shall contain only information of a scientific and factual nature. Such information shall not imply or create a belief that bottle-feeding is equivalent or superior to breast feeding.

2.  There shall be no point-of-sale advertising, giving of samples or any other promotional device to induce sales of infant formula directly to the consumer at the retail level, such as special displays, discount coupons, premiums, special sales, loss-leaders and tie-in sales.

3.  Manufacturers and distributors of infant formula shall not provide, to the general public or to pregnant women, mothers or members of their families, free or low-priced products, samples or any other promotional gifts, either directly or indirectly via the health care system or health workers.

4.  Donations or low-price sales of supplies of infant formula to institutions or organisations, whether for use in the institutions or for distribution outside them, shall only be used by or distributed for infants who have to be fed on infant formula and only for as long as required by such infants.

 From the Archive:  Corporate Examiner July 1982  shows the tactics used by US companies to grow the infant formula market, including sponsorship and providing architectural services that ensure mothers and babies are separated after birth.
Milk & Murder. 1939
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315843427_Inspiration_Cicely_Williams_Public_health_and_child_nutrition_hero
https://worldbreastfeedingweek.net/support/1994/af%2794_eng3.pdf
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ztxtgx3b

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