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…
Fortification: Too Much of a Good Thing?
The rise in fortification interventions since the establishment of the Scaling Up Nutrition and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has been dramatic – and has given the ultra-processed food corporations a big boost. BBC World Service broadcast a…
IBFAN tackles corporate influence in global health governance at the 70th World Health Assembly
Web screenings of the proceedings can be viewed on this link CLICK HERE for the statements on the IBFAN GIFA website COMMITTEE B Friday 25th May Afternoon (aprox 3.30) Management, legal and governance matters 23.3 Engagement with non-State actors . International Baby…
In praise of conflict. Ted talk by Jonathan Marks
Do watch this great Ted talk outlining when and where conflict is necessary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Ze3NZVtgs
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,…
Global standard-setting committee puts child health before trade
PDF version: ibfan-codex-pr-2016-4 Click here for background documents including official report of the meeting and participants list. Global standard-setting committee puts child health before trade 38th Codex Alimentarius Nutrition Committee, Hamburg, Germany 7th December 2016 Codex Alimentarius, the FAO/WHO body that…
Nestle promoting sugar drink through link with Barcelona FC
Nestlé has today (21 November 2016) announced a four-year deal with Barcelona Football Club to promote Milo processed food (which is nearly 50% sugar). Oh, sorry, Nestlé says it is a deal to “promote healthier lives“. According to Nestlé’s announcement:…
REPORT OF THE UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE RIGHT TO FOOD TO THE 2016 UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY: NUTRITION – MALNUTRITION
With other members of Civil Society, we met the Special Rapporteur in Rome last week at the Committee on Food Security. She also came to our side meeting on Conflicts of Interest. Here is her promised report on Nutrition. REPORT OF…
Protecting the right to Education against commercialisation
“The Special Rapporteur looks with concern at the rapid increase in the number of private education providers and the resulting commercialization of education, and examines the negative effects of this on the norms and principles underlying the legal framework of…
Trade vs Health – WHO opens the door to big business while trying to protect babies.
PDF: WHA69 IBFAN PR FINAL.2 CLICK HERE for TV Documentary WHO: in the claws of the lobbyists? MIYCN Resolution Guidance on ending the inappropriate marketing of foods for infants and young children WHA 69/7 Add 1 FENSA RESOLUTION PRESS RELEASE Trade…
IBFAN Statements on Obesity, Emergencies and WHO Governance
IBFAN statements at the 140th WHO Executive Board Meeting (23rd January-1st February 2017) Geneva Two days were spent in closed meetings for the selection of the short-list of three for the post of the new Director General of WHO. CLICK…
PRESS RELEASE: US trade lobby ignores global health concerns
Press Release (PDF) PRESS RELEASE: US trade lobby ignores global health concerns 69th World Health Assembly 26th May, 2016 At this year’s World Health Assembly in Geneva – three hot topics are on the agenda: baby foods, WHO’s interactions with Business…
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…
URGENT: EU Parliament to vote on nutrient profiles
URGENT: EU Parliament to vote on nutrient profiles 12th April. Please contact your MEP Nutrient profiles could be very helpful in curbing the huge number of claims authorised for baby foods and products. Thanks to the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)…
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…
Opportunity for MEPs to protect child health and prevent obesity
CLICK HERE and HERE for media coverage CLICK HERE for Mike Brady’s Campaign Blog about how you can help stop the misleading adverts and bad marketing CLICK HERE for MEPs on the ENVI Committee. Please ask as many as…
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…
Global Coordinating Mechanism blatantly pushes PPPs at WHO
C I’ve been attending the Global Coordinating Mechanism (GCM) on Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) that has been taking place at WHO HQ in Geneva. Its all been very disturbing especially since this is taking place before WHO’s policy on its engagement with…
IBFAN comment on Ending Childhood Obesity Report
The Deadline for comments on the Draft Final Report of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesityis today 13th November 2015. Baby Milk Action and IBFAN have submitted the following comment. BabyBaby Milk ActionIBFAN_ECHO_Nov2015 The Draft Final Report is HERE CLICK…
Childhood Obesity Inquiry highlights baby food industry marketing and sponsorship
Childhood Obesity Inquiry highlights baby food industry marketing and sponsorship for links to Blog with full Transcripts CLICK HERE Parliamentary Select Committee Childhood Obesity Inquiry. House of Commons, 20th October, 2015 The Select Committee inquiry on Childhood…
The Right to Food and Nutrition Watch 2015 – Business of Malnutrition
New publication – the Right to Food and Nutrition Watch 2o15 This includes three articles contributed by IBFAN. The Business of Malnutrition: The perfect public relations cover for big food by Patti Rundall, Policy Director, Baby Milk Action, UK Business of Malnutrition,…
World Obesity Day 11th October
TOMORROW – October 11th – is World Obesity Day see World Obesity for a host of useful statistic See also this article in the Guardian: Global obesity rise puts UN goals on diet-related diseases ‘beyond reach’ Sarah Boseley and Helen Davidson in Darwin Friday 9…
The Commission’s weak proposals on baby food and formula acts are out
The EU Commission’s proposals for new legislation covering the composition and marketing of baby foods and formulas have been sent to the European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI) I will post comments and a guide very soon…
German TV investigates Nestle
We are looking forward to English translations of two programmes broadcast in Germany this month by ARD, the world’s largest public broadcaster. Links to the German programmes are given below. Sign up for alerts and we will let you know…
Scaring mothers away from breastfeeding
Click HERE for Mike Brady’s Campaign Blog for some interesting background to this story including links to Nestlé sponsorship of the Brazilian Pediatric Association. CLICK Here for a story in Update 46 about how Nestlé and other companies target pregnant…
Nestle sued over claims of false advertisement of the ingredients in its Gerber baby food
This article is relevant to the ongoing discussions at WHO about inappropriate marketing of foods for infants and young children and shows how foods are ‘idealised’ – not only by baby pictures but by vegetables. Below this article are…
India government sues Nestle for $100m over Maggi noodles
12th August Indian government sues Nestle for $100m over Maggi noodles CLICK HERE for BBC report CLICK Here or HERE or HERE The Indian Government announced today that it is suing Nestle for $100m (£64m) over “unfair trade practices.” following on from its…
Nestlé hijacking World Breastfeeding Week again….
CLICK HERE for WHO, UNICEF, WABA and ILO materials Just like 2014, Nestlé has once again been hijacking World Breastfeeding Week, and all the while continuing to systematically break the UN marketing requirements. There have been advertisements in daily newspapers, sometimes full…
Deadline for comments on WHO Consultation on baby food promotion
A reminder that Monday AUG 10th is the deadline for comments on WHO’s consultation on “Clarification and guidance on inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children” See my consultation page for background documents and comments from Baby Milk Action,…
WHO DG on Ending Childhood Obesity
WHO Director-General addresses Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity Hong Kong 22nd June CLICK HERE for the speech by Dr Chan at the Third meeting of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 22 June…
Debate on Breastfeeding in the House of Commons, Westminster Hall
See Alison Thewliss Scottish National Party, MP for Glasgow Central (above) leading the debate in the debate on Breastfeeding that took place yesterday – 24th June 2015 WEBCAST (the final item for the day, starts at 4:30 PM) HANSARD (Column 319WH) Do…
IBFAN at the 68th WHA May 2015 – draft FENSA is published
CLICK HERE for the Framework for Engagement of Non State Actors (FENSA) as it was left at the end of the Assembly. The proceedings of the Plenary and Committee Room discussions at the World Health Assembly were web streamed for the…
News update – lead in Maggi noodles and more….
Criminal Complaint Accuses Nestlé India of High Lead Levels in Maggi Noodles Food inspectors say they found seven-times the permissible level of lead in a routine test By PREETIKA RANA Wall Street Journal, May…
Latin American Food and Beverage industries
Alliance Latin American associations of the industry of food and beverages Declaration of QUITO 10 and March 11, 2015 ALIAB declaración vs regulaciones e impuestos
Letters urging EU Commissioners to protect child rights
The New version of the proposals HERE Below are PDFs of letters to the European Commissioners We have asked the Secretary General of the Commission to ensure that the views of all the relevant DGs are taken into account, not…
New WHO consultations
1 WHO Framework of engagement with non-State actors CLICK HERE for the background information http://www.who.int/about/who_reform/non-state-actors/en/ Textual proposals submitted by Member States on the draft overarching framework of engagement with non-State actors and the four specific policies contained in the Annex of document…
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…
Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO)
IBFAN Statement on ECHO WHO Executive Board Meeting January 201 ECHO shortFINAL2 After representing IBFAN at the Civil Society Hearing of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO) on 14th October, we wrote this letter to explain our concerns about the…
Santa Claus resigns
Here’s a Christmas message from our partners in Mexico Santa Claus resigns Dec 15, 2014 This year Santa Claus made a tough decision: since his kidnapping in 1931 by a beverage company, he is resigning from his captors. He refuses…
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…
Best Feeding – Wholesome Baby Food Recipes from Asian homes to complement breastfeeding
“Best Feeding – Wholesome Baby Food Recipes from Asian homes to complement breastfeeding”. was launched on 27th October’14 in Brunei at the 10th One Asia Breastfeeding Partners Forum . CLICK HERE to download it as a PDF This lovely book challenges the paradigm created…
WHO EU Regional Meeting: Conflicts of interest on the agenda
Important information on conflicts of Interest for upcoming WHO Regional Meetings: Copenhagen:15th- 18th September, I have posted these tweets: Why is the EU so keen on voluntary CSR and ‘multi-stakeholder’ approaches – when there is no evidence they work? WHO…
Comment defending the Institute for Trade, Standards and Sustainable Development, Inc. (ITSSD)
Comment posted to my blog The comment given below was posted to my Blog, Stop TTIP – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership by someone calling themselves ‘Informed Counsel’ and giving their URL as http://www.itssd.org/. ITSSD is the Institute for Trade, Standards and…
Have you signed this? If not, act now to safeguard the UN from Conflicts of Interest: July 10-11
Please ask health, human rights or development organisations to endorse the statement calling for effective safeguards against conflicts of interest. Large for-profit corporations and their front groups will be attending the Comprehensive Review and Assessment of the Progress achieved in the Prevention and Control…
EU Health Council highlights breastfeeding and misleading marketing
20th June 2014 The EU Health Council adopted some important Conclusions on Nutrition and Physical Activity on Friday. Because of its importance to the economy, the EU seems to have chosen to ‘persuade’ rather than ‘regulate’ the food industry.’ In our view this overlooks…
UN General Assembly General Assembly: hearing on NCDs
General Assembly: Informal interactive hearing with NGOs, civil society organizations, the private sector and academia on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) Round Table 2: “Mobilizing whole of society efforts for NCD prevention and control at…
Unhealthy diets greater threat to health than tobacco; UN expert calls for global regulation
For online version Click HERE GENEVA (19 May 2014) -The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, called today for a new global agreement to regulate unhealthy diets. “Unhealthy diets are now a greater threat to…
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…
Nestle challenged at its AGM 2010, Lausanne, Switzerland 15th April 2010
Below is my intervention at Nestlé’s Shareholder meeting in April 2010 in Lausanne. I challenged the company about its failure to abide by marketing standards adopted by the World Health Assembly and about it health claims strategy which tells mothers…