79th World Health Assembly
CLICK HERE for side event
CLICK HERE FOR IBFAN BROCHURE.
IBFAN and ILCA were present at the 79th World Health Assembly covering agenda items that impact on child health. On Friday, 22nd May, IBFAN, ILCA, Burundi, Panama and Ecuador held a Side Event – sponsored by the van Tulleken Foundation and Colansa to address the contamination crisis.
Here are the IBFAN statements
WHA79: Contaminated Commercial Formula – the need for a global response
Agenda Item 15.4. Maternal, infant and young child nutrition – to be read by Tshimi Lynn Moeng (Document A79/5)
New threats to infant health are disaster capitalism. Firstly, the intrinsic contamination of formula – a child’s first UPF – has led to legal actions on infant deaths and illness. A single contaminated ingredient was distributed to 130 countries – causing unprecedented recalls. Poor surveillance, lack of transparency, fraud and poor crisis management have eroded public trust in the current food system, that is dependent on a handful of corporations. Secondly, Codex may soon allow weaker labelling of food products in emergencies. This opens the door to commercial exploitation, double standards and unethical dumping of products in the global south. Please Member States, send health delegates to Codex and ensure that products for babies are excluded from this proposal.
Agenda item 13. Public Health Emergencies: preparedness and response. read by Juanita Jauer Steichen on Tuesday Morning
As a member of the Inter-agency Infant Feeding in Emergencies, IBFAN is very concerned about new Codex guidelines that will allow flexibility for labelling, including of baby formulas and foods, during emergencies.
The onus will be on Member States to stop exploitation by those seeking to undermine breastfeeding and create markets. The fact is few Member States have effective emergency preparedness plans so they lack the capacity to recognise deceptive labelling. During COVID formulas shockingly claimed to provide immunity or aid ‘recovery.’ Any deregulation risks the health and survival of displaced families, while undermining tracking of contaminated products. While ALL women have the sovereign right to make infant feeding decisions, complete and accurate labelling is essential, especially in emergency situations. Its time for Member States to ensure this.
Agenda Item 12.4 Universal health coverage. read by Juanita Jauer Steichen (IBFAN/LLLI/LLL France)
IBFAN Strongly supports the right to access to free and adequate health care. To be effective, strong conflicts of interest safeguards are needed to prevent harmful industry practices that negatively impact health. Prevention for optimal health is critical and starts with infant and young child feeding – breastfeeding and avoidance of ultra-processed products.Companies process raw ingredients to achieve sweetness while claiming products are healthy. Sweetness is addictive and sets up taste preferences in children, programming them to consume ultra processed products. The international higher levels of added sugar content by companies targeting the global south is an unethical and unacceptable double standard. IBFAN urges governments to fully implement the Code – now 45 years old – and to enact legislation covering all products marketed for infants and children.”
USEFUL LINKS:
WHA documentation All document Journal No. 1 18 May 2026 Official side events. Find your national Law Here The International Code and Resolutions Consolidated DG Report. Embassies.
Over the years misleading marketing and intrinsic contamination of commercial formula – a child’s first taste of ultra-processed products – has led to infant fatalities, factory closures, interrupted supplies and distress to families. The detection of a new type of spore-forming contamination since November 2025 has led to ongoing recalls from over 130 countries, judicial inquiries into infant deaths in France and legal challenges about delays, lack of transparency, fraud and manslaughter.
As global networks, IBFAN and ILCA will focus on the impact this crisis has on all families, especially those in the Global South and in emergency contexts where testing, detection, treatment and safe alternatives may be limited. Families that are often forgotten.
The event will call on Member States to work towards a more resilient first-food systems, with mandatory independent oversight of manufacturing facilities, with health care systems that warn, monitor and document health problems during outbreaks. Full implementation of WHO recommendations and resolutions are essential safeguards for all babies – those who are breastfed and those who are fed formulas.
The online promotion formula (forbidden by WHA78.18) creates dependence on commercial products beyond the actual need. Cross border sales exacerbate the inherent safety risks of formula use, allowing products to enter countries where they may not be registered and are difficult to track. Meanwhile, the baby food industry has passed blame to external suppliers, claimed there is no causal link with their products and that they are acting “out of an abundance of caution.”
This food crisis illustrates the risks of allowing food systems to be dependent on a handful of corporations, with a single global ingredient, sourced from one supplier, causing immense harm. Alongside speakers from WHO, UNICEF, Parliamentarians and Member States, Yasmine Motarjemi, a food safety expert with a unique experience as head of Food Safety Departments in both WHO and Nestlé, will explain how food systems and food culture needs to change and why whistleblowers need to be heard and protected.
Above: France Télévisions Report. 26/03/2026. Infant Formula: Poison in Baby Bottles?
includes parents of babies who suffered or died and who are struggling to find to find answers.
The infant botulism caused by contamination of Byheart formulas in November was followed in January 2026 with news of cereulide* contamination of Nestlé, Danone and other formulas. Formula has been exported to more than 100 countries; there are ongoing judicial inquiries into infant deaths in France and legal challenges about recall delays, lack of transparency, fraud and manslaughter. Because of the lack of transparency the real sequence of events is unclear, but cereulide contamination of formula occurred well before the recalls in Dec 2025. Meanwhile industry has obfuscated and claimed there is no evidence of a causal link between the illnesses and the formula. Nestlé passed any blame to external Chinese suppliers and still claims the recalls are “out of an abundance of caution.” Parents of children who fell sick or died have been left with denial,robotic answer-phone messages, limited treatment and poor access to recall information or support. Public trust in food systems has been destroyed._______________________________________
*Nestlé’s infant, follow-on, pre-term and specialised formulas, were recalled because of possible contamination by cereulide – traced back to the optional ingredient arachidonic acid (ARA) Synthesised ARA made from funghi is added to justify premium prices and promote formulas as being ‘closer to breastmilk.’ but there is no convincing proof that added to formula it replicates breastmilk or improves outcomes. Breastmilk is a totally different living biological environment with co-enzymes that help fats to work optimally.
WHO and EU OFFICIAL ACTION:
Codex: December 2025: IBFAN’s request to the Codex Food Hygiene Committee prompted the updating of Codex advice;
WHO: February :WHO starts the updating of its risk assessments and scientific advice; WHO Disease Outbreak News update on global action.
European Union February and March. EU Commission starts checking 50% of formula imports from China.
French NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (February 2026) presented a Motion for a Resolution seeking the establishment of a committee of inquiry to assess the responsibility of multinational companies in cases of food contamination and the State’s strategy for anticipating and addressing such incidents. 3.2.26. National Assembly 2422 (English Deepl translation) “….Instead of communicating about health risks in accordance with the precautionary principle, multinationals are attempting to downplay the risks to the public. In France, on 13 January, Nestlé attempted to reassure its shareholders by apologising and claiming that no babies were ill. However, two criminal investigations have been launched in Bordeaux and Angers following the recent deaths of two infants who had consumed infant formula recalled by Nestlé. … All the facts mentioned should therefore lead Parliament to shed full light on the responsibility of multinational agri-food companies in the contaminated milk scandal, but also to exercise its role in overseeing the Government, as recent revelations raise fears of a lack of responsiveness to a public health risk.”
EU Parliament Hearing on cereulide contamination, March 24.2026.
PICTURE: Mr Koen Van Dyke, from the European Commission’s DG Santé, answers questions from MEPs during the
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GUIDE TO THE 158th EB with IBFAN interventions.
IBFAN WEBSITE GUIDE TO THE 158th EB
The 158th session of the Executive Board will take place at WHO HQ in Geneva. 2–7 February 2026.
CLICK HERE for the Agenda and Documentation. Preliminary daily timetable
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WHO Update: Disease Outbreak News
International food safety event: Infant formula and products containing arachidonic acid oil contaminated with cereulide toxin – Multi-country
more……
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IBFAN interventions at the Executive Board Meeting
IBFAN intervention on Agenda 25 Thursday 5th Feb. 2026 is the biennial reporting year for the International Code. DG Report on Maternal, infant and young child nutrition,
IBFAN believes there is an urgent need for a new WHA Resolution to update the 20 year-old WHO and Codex guidelines on intrinsic contamination of powdered formula. This could help reduce the serious health risk for infants, our most vulnerable population. The WHO Guidelines on the Safe preparation, storage and handling of powdered infant formula and the Codex Code of Hygienic Practice for Powdered Formulae for Infants and Young Children are not adequate for C botulinum, Bacillus cereus or spores that are “unlikely to be deactivated or destroyed by cooking, using boiling water or when making the infant milk.”
The recalls have highlighted systemic failures in formula and baby food production, regulatory surveillance, transparency, recall systems and crisis communication and the need for independent and regular scrutiny of manufacturing processes and facilities. The idealising online promotion and export of powdered baby food products exacerbates food safety risks, and persuades parents to unquestioningly trust products, undermining breastfeeding that can a be lifeline for children.
Agenda Item 25 Maternal, infant and young child nutrition Thursday PM
Contamination of commercial formulas has led to infant fatalities, factory closures, interrupted supplies, legal actions and much distress to families. They have exposed systemic failures in formula production, regulatory surveillance, recall systems and crisis management. Cross-border Social media marketing exacerbates the food safety risks, enabling contaminated unregistered products to enter countries where treatment may not be available. The idealised marketing misleads and instils unquestioning trust in the risky product. Governments must take the lead in changing Food safety cultures and ensure independent verification. Manufacturers and authorities must listen to – not punish whistle-blowers. Codex and WHO Guidelines are now nearly 20 years old and no longer adequate. A global response led by WHO is urgently needed to better protect families – whose trust is betrayed. Please don’t ignore this. This why we need WHO\
Agenda Item 28.6. Engagement with non-State actors
Report on the implementation of the Framework of Engagement with Non-State Actors
IBFAN’s collaboration with WHO over 47 years led to a consumer protection Code that has saved millions of children’s lives.
We know the importance of WHO’s independence, integrity and trustworthiness if it is to fulfil its constitutional mandate to protect the rights of all people to health. WHO’s constitution is a remarkable model, a core function of which is to propose conventions, agreements and regulations.
So Due diligence is needed to screen multi-stakeholder collaborations, especially for health-harming corporations – entities with no democratic accountability and whose aim is invariably to delay and undermine WHO’s essential action. In a world increasingly governed by economic interests, policy setting must be free from commercial influence so WHO’s wise leadership is needed more than ever. No single country can do what WHO does. Thank you.