Monday
Feb222010
How to report unethical promotion of formula, bottles and other breastmilk substitutes
Monday, February 22, 2010
The continued marketing of formula, bottles, pacifiers, or complimentary foods for babies under six months of age is dangerous and unethical. Not only do they undermine the efforts of moms who want to breastfeed, but they also create risks to the health of mothers and babies, and have a detrimental impact on the environment.
According to Marsha Walker, a registered nurse, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and Executive Director of the National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy:
According to the WHO ’s FAQs on the International Code:
No one disputes the fact that formula and bottles should exist. However, the World Health Organization, breastfeeding and health advocacy organizations, and many governments agree that they should not be marketed to expectant mothers, new mothers, and health professionals. People should be able to access these products when they are needed, but should not be faced with deceptive messages and imagery that suggest that a bottle is the standard way to feed a baby or that formula is as good as breastmilk.
In order to reduce the negative effect of formula marketing and save lives, the World Health Organization developed the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (World Health Organization). The Code restricts marketing and related practices of the following products:
Some of the provisions in the Code include:
Governments in more than 60 countries have adopted the Code and made it law. Some countries have gone a step further by making formula available only by prescription or requiring warnings on labels. In the absence of legislation, the Code encourages manufacturers and distributors to comply with its provisions.
Unfortunately, many of the countries that are signatories to the Code have not gone through the process of turning it into a law. Even in cases where there are laws in place, governments often do not have sufficient resources to monitor compliance and penalize non-compliance. So companies continue to do what they want and continue to aggressively promote their products in order to increase their profits. Nestle, for one, has made it clear that it does not even attempt to comply with the Code in developed countries (like Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Australia and others) and it falls short in developing countries. Other companies like Enfamil, Similac, and Heinz continue to violate the code regularly, as do bottle manufacturers such as Avent, Medela and many others. Despite what they may tell you, these companies are more focused on profits than on the health of babies.
Again, in other countries you can use the standard monitoring form and send it to the Code monitoring organization for your country.
If you see a violation, please take the time to take a picture/scan it in, note when and where you saw it, and report it. I have a few photos on my blackberry that I will be sending in to INFACT Canada, including several in-store coupons, discounts and promotions by Heinz that I have seen recently at IGA and Loblaws.
Thank you to Marsha Walker from NABA and Mike Brady from Baby Milk Action for their input into this post.
According to Marsha Walker, a registered nurse, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and Executive Director of the National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy:
Many people feel that they are too savvy to fall for deceptive claims but this is not true. Research has shown that more and more people feel that infant formula is equivalent to human milk, based on manufacturer claims that are false, misleading, and not supported by the evidence. Many mothers fall prey to thinking that fancy feeding bottles and artificial nipples are similar to their breast, but this is not true either.
According to the WHO ’s FAQs on the International Code:
The protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding rank among the most effective interventions to improve child survival. It is estimated that high coverage of optimal breastfeeding practices could avert 13% of the 10.6 million deaths of children under five years occurring globally every year. Exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life is particularly beneficial, and infants who are not breastfed in the first month of life may be as much as 25 times more likely to die than infants who are exclusively breastfed.
No one disputes the fact that formula and bottles should exist. However, the World Health Organization, breastfeeding and health advocacy organizations, and many governments agree that they should not be marketed to expectant mothers, new mothers, and health professionals. People should be able to access these products when they are needed, but should not be faced with deceptive messages and imagery that suggest that a bottle is the standard way to feed a baby or that formula is as good as breastmilk.
What is the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes?
In order to reduce the negative effect of formula marketing and save lives, the World Health Organization developed the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (World Health Organization). The Code restricts marketing and related practices of the following products:
- breast-milk substitutes, including infant formula and other milk products
- any foods and beverages, including bottle-fed complementary foods, when marketed for babies under 6 months of age (e.g. baby food and cereals marketed for young babies)
- baby bottles
- teats, like bottle nipples and pacifiers
Some of the provisions in the Code include:
- No advertising to the public of any product within the scope of the Code. This includes ads in any media--print, websites, TV, radio. It also includes in-store promotions, special displays, coupons and discounts (lowering the price of formula is allowed, but promoting a sale price or offering a coupon is not).
- No free samples to mothers. Cans of formula or gifts from formula or bottle manufacturers sent to homes, given to mothers by pediatric or obstetric offices, given to mothers when they leave the hospital, given as prizes or in contests, given at clinics or anywhere in the healthcare system
- No promotion of products through healthcare systems. Booklets, leaflets, posters,name badge holders, crib cards, tape measures, calendars, etc
- No gifts to healthcare providers. Anything from formula companies or feeding bottle manufacturers that are given to physicians, nurses, dietitians
- No words or pictures idealizing artificial feeding or pictures of infants on labels of formula cans, feeding bottles, etc. Packaging of these products should not have idealizing language or pictures of infants and mothers. Idealizing language means that claims are made such as "most like mother herself" or claims that the products are similar to breastmilk or breastfeeding
Governments in more than 60 countries have adopted the Code and made it law. Some countries have gone a step further by making formula available only by prescription or requiring warnings on labels. In the absence of legislation, the Code encourages manufacturers and distributors to comply with its provisions.
Why are companies still violating the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes?
Unfortunately, many of the countries that are signatories to the Code have not gone through the process of turning it into a law. Even in cases where there are laws in place, governments often do not have sufficient resources to monitor compliance and penalize non-compliance. So companies continue to do what they want and continue to aggressively promote their products in order to increase their profits. Nestle, for one, has made it clear that it does not even attempt to comply with the Code in developed countries (like Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Australia and others) and it falls short in developing countries. Other companies like Enfamil, Similac, and Heinz continue to violate the code regularly, as do bottle manufacturers such as Avent, Medela and many others. Despite what they may tell you, these companies are more focused on profits than on the health of babies.
How can I report a violation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes?
The Code is monitored by public interest organizations in various countries that are part of a network called the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN). A standard monitoring form can be downloaded and sent to the respective Code monitoring organization for your country. Here is specific information and forms for a few countries:
- United States: In the US, that organization is the National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy (NABA). Violations of the Code can be sent via mail to NABA, 254 Conant Rd, Weston, MA 02493, email Marshalact@aol.com, fax 781 893-8608 along with the monitoring form.
- Canada: INFACT Canada monitors the Code in Canada and has a form you can fill in on its website. It also offers some sample letters you can use to contact politicians, health care institutions and store managers with regards to violations in their jurisdiction.
- United Kingdom: In the UK, you can report violations to the WHO Code and there is also a banner you can add to your blog/website to inform other people about the need to report violations to the code.
Again, in other countries you can use the standard monitoring form and send it to the Code monitoring organization for your country.
Go forth and report!
If you see a violation, please take the time to take a picture/scan it in, note when and where you saw it, and report it. I have a few photos on my blackberry that I will be sending in to INFACT Canada, including several in-store coupons, discounts and promotions by Heinz that I have seen recently at IGA and Loblaws.
Thank you to Marsha Walker from NABA and Mike Brady from Baby Milk Action for their input into this post.
Reader Comments (122)
[...] and commercial barriers to both initiation and continuation of optimal breastfeeding… How to report unethical promotion of formula, bottles and other breastmilk substitutes www.phdinparenting.com The continued marketing of formula, bottles, pacifiers, or complimentary [...]
I'm thoroughly confused. Have things changed since I had my babies?? Because my hospital sent me home loaded with formula samples, and I was nursing. Why is that okay and a coupon on a grocery store shelf is not?
[...] I do want to make it clear that I was not paid to include it. I was, at the time, unaware of the WHO code and I want to publicly apologize to anyone who was offended, hurt or felt slighted by my allowing [...]
Musings of a Housewife:
Sending formula samples home from the hospital is also not okay.
As I wrote in my post above, some of the provisions in the Code include:
* No advertising to the public of any product within the scope of the Code. This includes ads in any media–print, websites, TV, radio. It also includes in-store promotions, special displays, coupons and discounts (lowering the price of formula is allowed, but promoting a sale price or offering a coupon is not).
* No free samples to mothers. Cans of formula or gifts from formula or bottle manufacturers sent to homes, given to mothers by pediatric or obstetric offices, given to mothers when they leave the hospital, given as prizes or in contests, given at clinics or anywhere in the healthcare system
* No promotion of products through healthcare systems. Booklets, leaflets, posters,name badge holders, crib cards, tape measures, calendars, etc
* No gifts to healthcare providers. Anything from formula companies or feeding bottle manufacturers that are given to physicians, nurses, dietitians
* No words or pictures idealizing artificial feeding or pictures of infants on labels of formula cans, feeding bottles, etc. Packaging of these products should not have idealizing language or pictures of infants and mothers. Idealizing language means that claims are made such as “most like mother herself” or claims that the products are similar to breastmilk or breastfeeding
My daughter is the mother of an 11 month old baby who is still almost entirely breastfed. No jarred food. No formula. They qualified for Assistance from WIC , the federally funded Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program. The coupons she was given were for free formula and jarred baby foods which her baby does not eat. Pregnant women can receive assistance for vegetables, cheese, milk, bread, cereal, fish, etc. But once the baby is born the only available assistance is for formula and jarred baby food.
[...] new to these issues you might be wondering what the WHO Code is anyway. As I wrote in my post on how to report unethical promotion of formula, bottles and other breastmilk substitutes, the Code restricts marketing and related practices for infant formula, any complementary food [...]
[...] I write about the WHO International Code of the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, I often get comments from people asserting what they see as their right to be marketed to. They [...]
As a mama of two who never gave a drop of formula...I was ignorant of the WHO code until now. I knew the WHO recommended nursing until age 2 minimum, but wow. I am floored because here in Chicago, major hospitals are STILL giving out formula samples galore and violating every section of that code.
I also saw samples of formula at my ped's office last week.
Looks like it's time for me to write a few nasty emails, eh?
[...] However, as I’ve said before, it may be more effective to express our concerns to the intermediaries that help formula companies spread their message. So tell Babble that you do not think it is appropriate for them to have a Breastfeeding Concerns section that is sponsored by Similac because it is deceptive and because it violates the WHO Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes. [...]
[...] create an environment where every woman who wants to breastfeed has all the support she needs - ban formula promotion, provide free and easy access to lactation consultants, ensure workplaces are supportive of [...]
[...] in in-depth discussions on posts on protecting your social capital, school vs. homeschooling, reporting marketing of breastmilk substitutes, calling out a mom who didn’t buckle her child into a car seat, reproductive rights, and [...]
[...] hygienic), double electric pump from a company that supports breastfeeding and complies with the WHO Code. You can read a review of the Hygeia pump on the Motherwear blog. I don’t think the Hygeia [...]
i think my problem with your blog is i read a lot about the "right to choose".
what about my right to choose? why shouldn't i be allowed to use a coupon for formula?
why should i need a prescription to feed MY baby however I want?
you may be all about breastfeeding but guess what? not everybody is.
i don't even know why i keep reading any of your posts. they just piss me off more and more
as i read them.
cheryl:
Formula companies artificially increase the price of formula in order to pay for a ton of advertising and marketing and then turn around and offer a few coupons here and there. As someone who has chosen formula, wouldn't you rather they just make it cheaper to begin with? I know having a coupon makes it feel like you're getting a "deal", but really what it means is that you are overpaying most of the time.
I think everyone needs to calm down. you had your choice. now let other people have theirs. if someone is nor smart enough to know how to resists an ad for formula, bottles or pacifiers or free samples, then honestly they have way more problems in life and raising a child then breast v formula feeding.
[...] and pumps than it did about truly supporting breastfeeding. It decided to stop complying with the WHO’s International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. In other words, it is now just like every other bottle and formula manufacturer out there — [...]
[...] in Parenting: How to Report a Unethical Promotion of [Breastmilk Substitutes], An Open Letter to the Attendees of the Nestle Family Blogger Event, Similac and Babble Team Up [...]
One should do his or her research before creating an insgnia that becomes the "poster" for this particular thread. The brand Kit Kat is not part of the Nestle portfolio, and should not be part of this slandering image. Apparently even those who are quick to toss around accusations of wrong-doing get things wrong once in while too.
Actually, KitKat is very much part of the Nestle portfolio. It is produced and sold worldwide by Nestle, except in the United States where it is produced under licence by Hershey (which means some of the money is still going to Nestle).
Oh wow...do you know what is really funny, A?
You share an IP address with a Nestle executive who left a comment on one of my previous posts.
I would like to inform you all that the code is beyond upsurd. Anyone in their right mind would promote natural substances such as breastmilk and the joy that comes from breastfeeding. However, I would like to point out that a lot of women cannot breastfeed for xy reasons. My mother, like many women, proved unable to breastfeed my sister, nor myself. What's more, some single mothers -and married ones as well- have to work in order to support and maintain a livable household income and therefore have no time to breastfeed during the day.
I do agree that the promotional efforts for formula is vast, but keep in mind that they only do so to promote their products against their competitors, hence the term 'marketing'. Of course they want to make profits, that is no secret, and who doesn't? Those profits are also aiding the economy (employment, taxes, charitable funding, etc). This CODE is directed more towards naive women in underdevelopped nations, who do not understand these implications. In any case, this 'marketing activity' is not illegal in the majority of states, where the sovereign legal system overpowers any international code.
Finally, the industries that manufacture these products -notably the pharmaceutical industry- are tied into government lobbying. So there's no way we will see North America adhere to this code anytime soon. They control the game.
In the end, it is your choice as a mother and you should know what is the best thing for your child. If you can breastfeed, by all means go crazy and pump away! But if you can't... Well there are only so many options available.
P.s. Women are also in their rights to receive free samples and discount coupons if they wish to do so. A lot of low income families need them.
[...] How to report unethical promotion of formula, bottles and other breastmilk substitutes (PhD in Parenting) [...]