2025
France 24 Eye on Africa
https://youtu.be/ElTHZvzsnyA
2024
Thailand Bans Advertising for Toddler Milk
With new rules, Thailand joins three dozen countries that have taken steps to regulate toddler milk ads. The action follows a ProPublica investigation that detailed how the U.S. helped the formula industry fight regulation in 2017.
New regulations in Thailand will force baby formula companies to stop advertising, giveaways and discounts for so-called toddler milk, which experts say can contribute to growing obesity and other health problems among the nation’s children.
The action follows a ProPublica investigation that revealed how the U.S. worked to weaken Thailand’s last major attempt to ban formula advertising, in 2017.
Thai health authorities at the time had hoped to end marketing for all formula products as part of their efforts to increase the country’s breastfeeding rate, which was among the lowest in the world. Of particular concern was toddler milk, a type of formula made especially for young children, often pitched with bold and, experts say, unsupported health claims. But formula makers like Mead Johnson asked U.S. trade officials to intervene, setting off a 15-month diplomatic and political pressure campaign that resulted in an exemption for toddler milk ads.
for more: https://www.propublica.org/article/thailand-bans-advertising-toddler-milk
December 14. 2024
Patrick Begley of the Sidney Morning Herald exposed how an Australian corporation Little Etoile handed out formula in Vietnam as an “Act of Love”
Taller, stronger, smarter: The baseless claims used to sell ‘toddler milk’ powder Australian parents are told not to buy the ultra-processed powdered milk products, but the government is helping fund a boom overseas. The investigation uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants flowing to Australian dairy companies whose overseas social media pages peddle baseless promises of smarter, taller children with stronger immune systems. According to the article, the Australian federal government is fuelling the sale of expensive “toddler milks” to families in poorer nations, backing the rise of an ultra-processed product Australian health authorities have warned parents not to buy.
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March 21 2024
The U.S. Government Defended the Overseas Business Interests of Baby Formula Makers. Kids Paid the Price.
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HIPP claims exposed
This is information sent by the Germen branch of Action against Hunger ( Translated from German)
“Children need 7 times as much vitamin D as adults” – this was the claim made by the baby milk manufacturer HIPP for its nutrient-enriched children’s milk COMBIOTIK. This claim is false – like one in four advertising claims on the market for artificial baby milk. The Federal Association of Consumer Advice Centres had sued the food manufacturer and has now been proven right by the Higher Regional Court in the last instance: HIPP must change its misleading
advertising promises. The court also considers it proven that HIPP deceives consumers with its claim and thus violates applicable EU law
links in English here – https://ground.news/article/trial-hipp-sentenced-to-refrain-from-misleading-advertising
Hipp got into trouble last year for Green-washing – https://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/stiftung-fur-konsumentenschutz-v-hipp/
Labelling focused on nutrients such as protein or fat distracts from ‘poor quality’ or ‘chemically transformed’ products, according to experts
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/25/australias-health-star-rating-system-exploited-by-companies-making-ultra-processed-foods-experts-say
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A proposal to recognize investment in breastfeeding as a carbon offset
Julie Patricia Smith,a Phillip Baker,b Roger Mathisen,c Aoife Long,d Nigel Rollinse & Marilyn Waringf
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In the news: “Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) is expected to criticize the Food and Drug Administration for “failing to do the bare minimum to carry out its core mission”… According to excerpts from his prepared remarks, the House Oversight Committee chair will say the agency “appears consistently unprepared for crises,” naming the infant formula recall that spurred a nationwide shortage and persistent shortages of drugs to treat cancer and infections.”
https://lexingtonky.news/2024/04/11/in-progress-rep-james-comer-holds-hearing-on-fda-thursday/
2020
2018
In Emraan Hashmi’s ‘Tigers’, a fight against a corporation that took 12 years to hit the screens
Conflict of interest stories:
Cancer Doctor Resigns After Failing to Disclose Industry Ties
C4 Breastfeeding Uncovered. CLICK HERE
US pressure on Ecuador to drop its support for the World Health Assembly Resolution. There has been an unprecedented amount of media coverage about this story (over 600 online editorial articles and about 900 social media posts) After the well researched front page article in the New York Times (online on Sunday 8th July, hard copy 9th July) the story was boosted by President Trump tweeting that it was all ‘Fake News’. Here are just some. First a great summary on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Jul 11, 2018. Click HERE for more and HERE for the latest. CLICK HERE for just some of the US coverage.
2017
French Government calls for global withdrawal of Lactalis formulas
CLICK HERE WHO in the claws of the lobbyists? This documentary film by Arte was broadcast in 2017 and is now available on Youtube. This is a hard hitting film featuring Patti Rundall and several IBFAN partners
Interference in public health policy: examples of how the baby food industry uses tobacco industry tactics. Learning from the tobacco experience, this paper assesses whether the baby food industry uses any of the six tobacco industry interference tactics recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and summarizes examples of documented evidence.
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 programme today in its series: The Food Chain. In Fortification: Too Much of a Good Thing? presenter Emily Thomas did some great interviews: Nestlé tried to pretend that its fortification claims were not really selling points, that noodles are better than crisps, that if you add vegetables they are ‘home made’ and that post-market surveillance of impact is too tricky when there are so many products on the market; Lawrence Haddad (CEO of GAIN) claimed many things including that having junk food companies on its Board didn’t really matter because GAIN’s agenda is set by hundreds of other people, Mark Lawrence, Public Health Nutritionist, Deakin University, Australia and Prof Barrie Margetts, Southampton University gave great summaries of the rise of voluntary fortification – how the onus has shifted to public health bodies to prove harm, how the risks of fortification – especially on junk foods – might outweigh any benefits and could be displacing wholesome foods. Gordon Paulson from the Federation of Master Bakers clarified that by law in the UK no nutrition claims are made on bread that is fortified by law – since all the products are the same.
CLICK HERE to listen. Its really good
2014
29 September – Express Tribune (Pakistan): The ‘tiger’ who exposed Nestlé’s formula scandal in Pakistan
10 September 2014 – Examiner.com: New international film exposes Nestle’s deadly practices
30 July 2014 – Nutraingredients: Baby Milk Action quoted in article on Danone rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority for misleading claims.
1 June 2014 – Sunday Herald: Conference is axed in Nestle sponsor furore
19 May 2014 – Dairyreporter: Infant formula marketing practices behind breastfeeding declined – IBFAN
You will find links to earlier media coverage on the related press releases in our archives.
8th March 2003
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/mar/08/filmnews.nelsonmandela
Attenborough in row over Nestlé funding ‘advice’ to Mandela
Lord Attenborough’s role as a Unicef ambassador came under scrutiny yesterday after he appeared to try to persuade Nelson Mandela to accept a charitable donation from the controversial food giant Nestlé in exchange for a photo opportunity.
Officials from the United Nations Children’s Fund will be speaking to the film director and philanthropist about his extraordinary meeting with Mr Mandela, which was captured in a BBC1 documentary.
During the meeting, Lord Attenborough seemed to be lobbying on behalf of the Swiss company, which has been criticised for pushing powdered baby milk on to mothers in developing countries and was attacked earlier this year for seeking $6m (£3.75m) from Ethiopia’s cash-strapped government. Health campaigners expressed anger at the scenes and are calling on him to consider his position.
Despite claiming a close knowledge of Nestlé in the programme, Lord Attenborough insisted he was not lobbying on the company’s behalf and had not been paid by it. He said his remarks in the David Dimbleby documentary, shown on Wednesday, were taken out of context.
In the film, Mandela: The Living Legend, Lord Attenborough was seen speaking with Mr Mandela in a suite of rooms at the Dorchester hotel in London about how the former president of South Africa could raise charitable funds.
Lord Attenborough tells Mr Mandela: “I know that if you said, ‘I want more money’, knowing Nestlé as I do, if [you] said I wanted another half million or another whatever it is … you would have it like that [clicks fingers].”
Turning to Mr Mandela’s assistant, Lord Attenborough goes on: “They [Nestlé] are so desperate to reinstitute themselves in South Africa, to be seen to have changed their philosophies and that they are now totally in favour of everything he [Mr Mandela] stands for.”
In a corridor outside the suite, Lord Attenborough again addresses Mr Mandela’s assistant. In lowered tones he says: “I will ask Nestlé to ring you tomorrow morning. They are desperate to rectify their history and they hero worship him like millions of people.
“If he said, I’ll have my picture taken with you when you give me your assurance that you will so and so and so and so …”
He then clicks his fingers again and says: “Quarter of a million, half a million, whatever.”
Patti Rundal, policy director at Baby Milk Action, one of Nestle’s fiercest critics, said: “Knowing Lord Attenborough’s good works, it was a shock to see him appearing to act as a messenger for Nestlé. He could have been more wise. He was naive and he has to consider his position”.
In a letter printed in the Daily Mail yesterday, written in response to a review of the programme, Lord Attenborough insisted: “I was not paid a fee by Nestlé and was not lobbying on its behalf.” He said Mr Mandela had sought his advice about potential donors for his children’s charity in South Africa.
The film director said he reminded him Nestlé had given a “significant sum” to Waterford, the mixed race school in Swaziland which Mr Mandela’s children attended. Lord Attenborough is a governor of the school.
Lord Attenborough said: “This part of the conversation was not included in the programme. What was included, out of context, was my idea that Mr Mandela should approach Nestlé directly for a donation to his own charity.”
A spokesperson for Unicef, for which Lord Attenborough has been an international goodwill ambassador since 1987, said it would be speaking to him about the documentary.
It emphasised he had been speaking in a “personal capacity” and issued a statement alleging that there was “routine violation” of the World Health Organisation’s code on the marketing of breast milk substitutes, which says that mothers should be able to make informed decisions about how to feed their children free from commercial pressure by all major companies – including Nestlé.
A spokeswoman for Nestlé, which was forced into a u-turn over its attempt to seek $6m from Ethiopia, said the company had had no “direct contact” with Lord Attenborough. However she confirmed the company was supporting the Waterford school.
A spokeswoman for the BBC said it stood by its programme. Lord Attenborough was not available for comment.
Times apology: A diary item (People, February 20 2003) reported that a forthcoming BBC documentary on Nelson Mandela depicted Lord Attenborough ‘wheeling and dealing’ for Nestlé, which was anxious to improve its image in South Africa. This item was based on misleading commentary in a preview video provided by the BBC. The programme broadcast on March 5, following a complaint to the BBC by Lord Attenborough, makes it clear that charitable fundraising was being discussed. Lord Attenborough was not representing the interests of Nestlé;, but simply suggesting that the company (which had already contributed to a charity supported by Mr Mandela and him) could be approached for a donation for the Mandela Children Fund in exchange for a photo opportunity. We regret any embarrassment caused to Lord Attenborough and Mr. Mandela.
Archive films
https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-8100588A-vid
Bottle babies: a film Author: Krieg, Peter Teldok Films, 1975