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…
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…
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…
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…
Baby Feeding Law Group
The Baby Feeding Law Group https://www.bflg-uk.org/ Who we are The Baby Feeding Law Group UK was founded by Baby Milk Action in 1997 and has been working for over 20 years to strengthen UK baby feeding laws in line…
Nestlé no longer a sponsor of My Family and the Galapagos
The second series of My Family and the Galapagos is airing on C4 on Sunday evenings. Having written to complain about the Nestlé sponsorship and how I felt it had influenced the show’s message about plastic waste, I was…
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…
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…
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…
2019:IBFAN at the Codex Labelling: Bio-fortification, Cross Branding, front of pack labelling
REP19_FLeIBFAN and partner NGOs at the CODEX Food Labelling Committee 45th CCFL, 13-17th May, 2019, Ottawa, Canada I will be posting a longer report soon, but in summary, this was a very successful week. The Bio-fortification definition was not agreed – indeed…
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…
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.…
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…
2018 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…
Draft Council conclusions Healthy Nutrition for Children: The Healthy Future of Europe
Draft Council conclusions Healthy Nutrition for Children: The Healthy Future of Europe Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council session on 22 June 2018 Conclusions on “Healthy nutrition for children: The healthy future of Europe” On 26 April 2018,…
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…
New Codex comment on Follow-up Formula
IBFAN’s new comment on the revision of the Follow-up Standard (Codex Stan 156-1987) Please share with your country delegates Codex paper IBFAN’s point by point comments on Follow-up Formula CLICK HERE IACFO’s comments are the same as IBFAN’s CLICK HERE…
New IBFAN Codex Comments
CLICK HERE for the consultation page where you will find IBFAN’s new comments on 3 important issues that will be discussed in Berlin in December.
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…
Key Actions You Can Take Today To Support The #BindingTreaty to #StopCorporateAbuse
Key Actions You Can Take Today To Support The #BindingTreaty to #StopCorporateAbuse: http://www.treatymovement.com/get-more-involved/ Acciones para Apoyar el #TratadoVinculante contra #AbusosPorEmpresas: http://www.treatymovement.com/unase-al-movimiento/ Actions pour soutenir le #TraitéContraignant contre #ViolationsParEntreprises: http://www.treatymovement.com/pour-se-mobiliser-encore-plus/
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…
Trump & trade; WHO: in the claws of the lobbyists? India and Malnutrition
Trump & trade; WHO: in the claws of the lobbyists? India and Malnutrition, Amsterdam tackles Obesity Here are links to media coverage of some important stories: a German/French TV Documentary on WHO: its funding and relation to corporations and philanthropists;…
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,…
Romania: EU legislation and the protection of child health
STOP PRESS: Case Studies on inequalities in the EU and Romania IBFAN UK EU Chronology Romania: EU legislation and the protection of child health Considerations that Member States can take into account in their nutrition and health planning. …
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…
UK governments can do more to support mothers who want to breastfeed for longer
WBTi report launch, Westminster, 15 November 2015, 19:30 World Breastfeeding Trends initiative report shows how UK governments can help empower mothers to breastfeed for as long as they wish – Report scores countries on action taken to date Media coverage: Daily…
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…
Conflicts of Interest in Food security and Nutrition Policies: Which way forward for the CFS?
Thursday 20 of October 2016 18.00-19.30 Iraq Room I attended the Committee on Food Security this week in Rome. CLICK HERE for photos of our side meeting attended by 200 people. Conflicts of Interest in Food security and Nutrition Policies:…
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…
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…
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…
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…
The Lancet Breastfeeding Series – holding corporations accountable
In part 1 of this article, I reflected on the new Lancet Breastfeeding Series and other significant developments in January concerning our mission to protect breastfeeding and protect babies fed on formula. My focus was on the paper concerning health benefits…
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 …
Act now to reduce sugar levels in baby foods
Update 20 January: This campaign was successful. Click here for details. Take action to contact your representatives in the European Parliament before 20 January to strengthen baby food marketing regulations. Here is a quick explanation and instructions on what to…
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…
A fox building a chicken coop?
A fox building a chicken coop? A fox building a chicken coop? – Policy Forum www.policyforum.net The World Health Organization embarked on a reform process five years ago, that included looking at fundraising from private-sector sources. But serious policy questions…
Mike Brady intervention at the UN Business Forum side event on binding Treaty
Today I spoke on a panel at the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva. Our event was on Challenges and Opportunities of a Treaty Addressing Corporate Abuses of Human Rights. The Treaty is being drafted by a…
IBFAN Codex comments
NEW PAPER ON UNICEF RUTF PROPOSAL RUTF Bullett FINAL IBFAN submissions to the 37th codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) Bad Soden am Taunus, Germany 23-27 November 2015 I will be joining the IBFAN Codex…