Conflict of interest and the infant formula industry—a call to action https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2019/10/03/conflict-of-interest-and-the-infant-formula-industry-a-call-to-action/ Calling time on formula milk adverts https://www.bmj.com/content/364/bmj.l1200
Body Shop removed from Nestle boycott product list
The Body Shop is no longer connected to Nestlé as it has been sold by L’Oreal (part-owned by Nestlé) to Brazilian company Natura. We’re proud of everything that we achieved alongside L’Oréal. Now we are about to start an exciting…
Government response to concerns over misleading Aptamil promotion at the Natural History Museum
We were contacted last month by people concerned that the Natural History Museum was hosting an event promoting the Aptamil brand of formula. We have now received a response from the government department responsible for the Museum. The event involved…
UNILEVER Dove campaign shows its commitment to breastfeeding is empty words
Update 11 July 2017: Unilever has withdrawn its advertising campaign, according to campaignlive.com. Thank you to everyone who contacted the company. (Unilever has so far only sent Baby Milk Action a standard email defending the campaign – let us know…
Ask you MP to attend the APPG on Infant Feeding & Inequalities
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Infant Feeding & Inequalities works to bring together Members of Parliament (MP) to work together to improve infant feeding policies. Following the election in June 2017, it is necessary to reconvene the APPG –…
Body Shop to be sold by L’Oreal – growth disappointing after being added to Nestle boycott list
“Anita sells out” – that was the front-page headline of the Independent newspaper when Dame Anita Roddick sold Body Shop to L’Oreal in March 2006. Aside from the concerns over L’Oreal’s record on animal testing and other ethical issues, the cosmetic…
Mike Brady is running the English Half Marathon for Baby Milk Action
I am running the English Half Marathon on 17 September 2017 for Baby Milk Action. To sponsor me, click on the donate button to go to our secure payment system hosted by Romancart. I am funding myself to take part in the run.…
Action in the UK Parliament – and during the General Election campaign
Click here for our Update newsletters. Baby Milk Action supporters were amongst those encouraging their Members of Parliament to support the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Infant Feeding and Inequalities, which was formed on 19 January 2016. Following the announcement of…
So farewell, Mr Brabeck – change at the top of Nestle
The Nestlé shareholder meeting takes place on 6 April 2017, where a new Board of Directors will be elected. This sees the end of the era of Peter Brabeck-Letmathé, who became Chief Executive Officer in 1997 and continued in the role when…
Response from Kendal Nutricare to Look What They’re Doing in the UK – 2017
Baby Milk Action monitors the baby feeding industry against international and UK marketing standards and campaigns for companies to bring their practices into line. We received complaints about marketing of Kendamil infant formula at events in the Lake District, where…
Why parents who use formula need better marketing regulations
Baby Milk Action’s new monitoring report profiling the major UK formula, bottle and teat companies and retailers provides evidence of how families are being misled. Here are some reasons why better regulations are necessary to protect parents who use formula. Click here…
Parliamentary debate on protecting families from misleading baby milk marketing – contact your MP
UPDATE: The Bill described below was not debated due to an over-packed Parliamentary agenda and lack of time. Alison Thewliss MP has instead announced an inquiry into Infant Feeding Services. Baby Milk Action will submit evidence from our monitoring and other…
Help Baby Milk Action monitor formula companies in the UK to end misleading marketing
Baby Milk Action receives many examples of misleading marketing by the formula companies. We are grateful to everyone who sends these too us. We apologise for when we are slow to acknowledge them. Please do continue sending us examples of promotion in retail…
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:…
Tesco, car parking vouchers and the anti-regulation agenda
The media has picked up on a story of a mother who was refused a car parking voucher when she visited a Tesco store because she had bought only infant formula and not a qualifying product. The reporting of it raises much wider issues…
Nestle targeting health workers in breach of Indian IMS Act
It is Nestlé-Free Week from 28 October – 4 November 2016, a time for people who boycott Nestlé over the way it pushes baby milk to do more to promote the boycott – and for those who don’t boycott to give…
Free wills month and Baby Milk Action
There is a campaign in October encouraging people to make or update their will. Various solicitors have joined with leading charities to encourage people to think of leaving a legacy. Baby Milk Action can receive legacies, but we cannot participate in…
Formula for a pound – Baby Milk Action investigates
Baby Milk Action welcomes reports from the public of marketing practices for formula, feeding bottles and teats that they think might break marketing rules. Your donations and membership fees help us to act on these reports. Recently we have been asked about…
Nestle wining, dining health workers to gain formula endorsements
Would you trust your health worker to give you accurate information on feeding your child if you knew they had been wined and dined on an international three-day trip hosted by a formula company? A trip where more time is spent being a…
End-of-aisle displays, the International Code and the UK law
Baby Milk Action has been asked to clarify whether end-of-aisle displays of infant formula and other breastmilk substitutes break the UK law and/or international marketing standards. The use of such displays appears to have become commonplace in supermarkets in recent…
The role of infant formula companies in World Breastfeeding Week – what they should do and what they actually do
The correct role of infant formula companies during World Breastfeeding Week is the same as at any other time of the year: to sell their infant formula in accordance with international marketing standards – and nothing else. They should not be targeting pregnant…
It is World Breastfeeding Week – what you can do to promote it and stop formula companies hijacking it
It is World Breastfeeding Week, promoted by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). In the UK, you can sign a Call to Action to change the conversation around breastfeeding on the UNICEF UK website. Also see the joint statement…
Remembering the baby killer booklet and Nestle libel trial
BBC World Service archive on the the Baby Killer – broadcast 12 July 2016 Nestlé is the target of a boycott over its aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes around the world. Monitoring conducted by the International Baby Food Action Network…
Open letter to JACEI Chair – bringing Nestle into FTSE4Good has been harmful to infant health
Baby Milk Action wrote to the Chair of the Methodist Church Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics in Investment (JACEI) on 6 August 2015 regarding the JACEI report on the Church’s £1 million investment in Nestlé. The JACEI report showed that engagement…
Breastfeeding Solidarity March – Gaborone, Botswana, 10 June
An alliance of organisations in Botswana is campaigning to raise public awareness on the importance of breastfeeding in saving lives and supporting development outcomes. They are holding a Breastfeeding Solidarity March in Gaborone on 10 June, starting at 8:30 (announcement…
Breastfeeding welcome everywhere says Irish group – exposing Danone marketing strategy
Breastfeeding Welcome Here BFLGI Press Release – see bottom of page for Baby Milk Action’s comment Breastfeeding welcome here? No thanks! Breastfeeding welcome everywhere Leading health advocate organisation denounces Danone’s attempt to make breastfeeding appear a niche activity. The Baby Feeding Law Group…
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…
Members of Parliament to hear how to protect mothers and babies from aggressive baby milk marketing as UK is assessed as failing to protect their rights
Baby Milk Action presentation in Parliament 17 May 2016 – 9:30 am Update: Click here to watch the presentation. (Follow on Twitter #APPGIFI – tweet you MP to ask if they are attending – MP contact details) Baby Milk Action will present…
IBFAN-GIFA asks Mr Brabeck to change formula marketing practices given its claimed support for breastfeeding to two years and beyond
The following is the text of the intervention Rebecca Norton of IBFAN-GIFA gave at the Nestlé shareholder meeting on 7 April 2016. Click here for the text in French – pdf. This is followed by the response from Nestlé Chairman, Peter…
Baby Milk Action asks Mr Brabeck to change Nestle baby milk marketing – and shareholders to remember the babies who have died
The following is the text of the intervention Mike Brady, Baby Milk Action’s Campaigns and Networking Coordinator, gave at the Nestlé shareholder meeting on 7 April 2016. This is as given and is followed by the response from Nestlé Chairman…
Nestle is 150 years old – time for it to change
Update: Nestle shareholder meeting asked by Baby Milk Action to remember impact of unethical baby milk marketing on 150th anniversary Nestlé is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2016. But this should also be a time of remembrance and repentance. Its history is…
Time to act to enforce the UK formula regulations – not weaken them
Update 20 July 2016: This campaign was successful. The Statutory Instruments implemented today in England and Wales today make Improvement Notices legally binding. See our press release for details. Scotland’s Statutory Instrument also makes certain provisions legally binding, but does not provide…
Those caring people at SMA are just after your money – they have something to sell
A blog by a marketing company called Futureproof employed to recover the SMA brand from its 3rd place position in the UK market has been receiving attention on social media. It reveals the strategies used to present the company to mothers…
Research shows the messages people take from the Brazilian “your child is what you eat” campaign
You may recall the advertising campaign developed for the Paediatric Society of Rio Grande do Sul (SPRS) in Brazil by an agency called Paim. A blogger on advertising in Brazil has conducted research to find out the messages people took from the campaign.…
As Nestle boasts of infant formula sales growth, Botswana police file charges over aggressive marketing, while Tesco puts formula with “excessive protein” on clearance sale in breach of UK law
Baby Milk Action press release 18 February 2016 Nestle today launched its latest full-year results, reporting 4.2% organic growth, stating: “Infant formula including growing-up milks, delivered good growth”. This growth comes from systematic violations of baby milk marketing standards adopted…
Botswana Gazette : Police to Charge Nestle for Violations
The following article appears in the Botswana Gazette (17 – 23 February 2016). It comes as Nestle boasted of 4.2% organic growth in launching its financial report on 18 February, claiming: “Infant formula including growing-up milks, delivered good growth.” Botswana…
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…
The Lancet Breastfeeding Series – and other January news
This January encapsulates what is good and bad in working to protect breastfeeding and to protect babies fed on formula – Baby Milk Action’s mission. The Lancet’s latest breastfeeding series was launched at the end of the month, suggesting that the…
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…
Last chance to improve EU baby milk regulations (contact MEPs before Thursday)
UPDATE 14 January: Outcome of the vote. You are probably very familiar with the widespread and aggressive advertising of formula brands in Europe. You can act now to stop it – jump to campaign action. The screenshots left and below are from a…
Ask your Member of Parliament to support the Infant Feeding & Inequalities APPG
Update: the APPG has now been formed. Many thanks to everyone who contacted their MPs. Fifteen from three parties attended the meeting on 19 January 2016 to complete the formalities, elect officers and develop a programme of subjects for the…
Hilarious book to raise funds for Baby Milk Action
It’s been a busy time at Baby Milk Action. As our Policy Director, Patti Rundall, sometimes says, “We haven’t got time to swing a cat in this office”. Now, in time for Christmas, Gabrielle Palmer, author of The Politics of…
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…
Health visitors caught up in Nestle v Danone formula marketing war
The Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association (CPHVA) is a member of the Baby Feeding Law Group (BFLG), which works for the baby feeding industry to be better regulated. It is worrying to see it being targeted by Nestlé and…
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…
Nestle-sponsored paediatric society shocks breastfeeding mothers with Brazilian first 1000 days campaign according to report in the Daily Mail
(Update: press release 22 September 2015: Nestle-sponsored paediatric society distances itself from corporation as it launches shocking first 1000 days campaign – our original blog article from 16 September responding to the Daily Mail report is archived below). Update 25 February 2016: Research…
New Nestle-Free Zone t-shirt
We are taking pre-orders for our new Nestlé-Free Zone t-shirt for delivery in September. Take a look at the t-shirt and other items in our online Virtual Shop. The Nestlé-Free Zone logo is also available on mugs, keyring and fridge magnets. Explore…
Nestle’s dishonest blog on the boycott shows its desperation and the challenges we face
I was contacted recently by a supporter of the Nestlé boycott whose nephew questioned her concerns by referring to a blog post on Nestlé’s website. The staggeringly dishonest nature of Nestlé’s presentation of the facts shows how desperate it is to undermine support…
Call for help: Look What They’re Doing in the UK monitoring report
Baby Milk Action is very grateful to members of the public who report cases of aggressive marketing of baby milks, baby foods and feeding bottles and teats to us. Some of these we take up with the companies involved, Trading…
Tell Nestle: stop breaking the rules – SMA promotion targeting young mothers
We have been contacted by supporters concerned that Nestlé is promoting its SMA infant formula brand to mothers through sponsorship of AOL’s online Being Mum videos. We are taking this up with both Nestlé, AOL and the relevant authorities in the UK…