Archive site - new site at www.babymilkaction.org

A story has appeared on the nutraingredients website about US research that "benefits of breastmilk over infant formula are 'overstated'".

In the expectation that this will be seized on by sectors of the more mainstream media, here's a closer look.

We have been receiving messages from supporters and the wider public about comments attributed to Dr Christian Jessen appearing in the current edition of Closer Magazine. Baby Milk Action tried to contact Dr Jessen via his agent and has confirmed that Dr Jessen's comments were taken out of context. A corrected statement - over which we still have some concerns - has been posted on the Closer website and we await news on what correction will be made in the next print edition. Further details below.

Nestlé's Chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathé, is boasting an interview he gave has been named "the top water story of 2013 in Guardian Sustainable Business". 

Actually, Guardian Professional - "supported by funding from external companies and organisations" - listed its  interview with Mr Brabeck as one of its "top five stories":
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/water-top-five-stories-2013

I posted a comment to the Guardian site, repeated here with useful links:

The media is picking up on reports of a pilot study in Yorkshire and Derbyshire that will reward mothers with shopping vouchers if they breastfeed their children. According to The Guardian report: "Women will be offered vouchers worth £40 if they are breastfeeding when the baby is two days old and then further £40 vouchers at 10 days and at six weeks. The last two vouchers are spaced further apart – at three months and at six months."

We have been contacted by many people about the lead headline on the cover of the current edition of Take a Break magazine: "Poisoned by Mum's milk: Breastfeeding KILLED by baby".

The headline is sensationalist - and misleading. The child had a rare genetic condition called Galactosaemia, which is an inability to break down lactose fully, making breastfeeding OR formula feeding dangerous.

Galactosaemia affects an estimated 1 in 45,000 babies in the UK every year - a fact mentioned in the article. In this particular case the child was both breastfed and fed on formula at night, but it is breastfeeding singled out by the editor as killing the child.

Invitation to protest at the International Congress of Nutrition, Grenada, Spain, 15 - 20 September 2013.

Baby Milk Action's work on stopping corporations influencing health policies received a big boost in June this year when the Director General of the World Health Organisation, Margaret Chan, also warned: "Efforts to prevent noncommunicable diseases go against the business interests of powerful economic operators. In my view, this is one of the biggest challenges facing health promotion." She said: "In the view of WHO, the formulation of health policies must be protected from distortion by commercial or vested interests."

Not everyone has got the message - and we need your help. Fast forward to September and who are the headline sponsors of the International Congress of Nutrition?

Update: Lara and Sian completed the half marathon and are pictured below with their medals.

Baby Milk Action is delighted that Lara Cowpe and Sian Evans will be running in the Cardiff Half Marathon on 6 October 2013 in support of Baby Milk Action - and mothers and babies everywhere who benefit from our work holding the baby food industry to account.

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, has not yet given birth and people are telling her how to care for her child. The Guardian reported yesterday that a TV presenter had "called upon the duchess to become an advocate for breastfeeding." It is enough to have advice coming from all sides from family and friends, without trying to satisfy the demands of a nation, particularly with regard to one of the most immediate, fundamental and intimate aspects of nurturing the precious new-born gift when it arrives.

I don't think it is our business how Kate or any mother feeds her child - but there is plenty we can be doing to ensure that mothers have the support they require and deserve. In fact, it would be great if the energy and media attention expended on offering unwanted advice to Kate was applied where it is really needed: protecting the right to accurate, independent information for mothers, stopping misleading promotion of formulas (such as the "What's the best milk after Kate's?" formula advertising campaign), ensuring mothers who do use formula have information on how to reconstitute it properly and allowing mothers to breastfeed, instead of consigning them to toilets to do so.

Danone is stepping up its targeting of health workers and the public, in violation of international baby milk marketing standards. In the UK Danone's formula brands are Aptamil and Cow & Gate. Baby Milk Action is organising protests where possible to raise awareness of the conflicts of interest involved in having a formula manufacturer and distributor as a sponsor and prompt a debate.

The Guardian is reporting that breastfeeding rates are falling in the UK. See:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/22/breastfeeding-figures-fall-nhs-cuts

I have posted the following comment (which can be used by the media as a quote):

Following Nestlé's entry into the UK and Irish formula markets in December 2012, when it finalised its takeover of Pfizer Nutrition/Wyeth and the SMA brand, we are starting to see more aggressive baby milk marketing practices, both from Nestlé and its main competitor, Danone.

Danone is second to Nestlé in the global market and both are major sources of violations of the marketing requirements adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA), particularly in Asia. Marketing standards were never very high in the UK, but they are on the slide as this competition reaches our shores. Successive governments have failed to implement the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant WHA Resolutions in legislation. Therefore, it falls to everyone who cares about infant health and the right of parents, carers and health workers to receive accurate, independent information to join us in saying these minimum requirements should be respected.

Please sign this petition addressed to the European Union, calling it to accept that access to water is a human right. See: http://www.right2water.eu/

Nestlé Chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathé, has rejected this view in an interview. Under his principles, water is a foodstuff to be sold at a price. He claims that by placing a value on water it will be treated with more respect. People who are poor and have difficulty accessing water should be given help, he says. Of course, Nestlé aims to make a buck from this process and is actively and agressively appropriating community water supplies, often in the face of opposition and legal challenges from those communities. It tries to divert criticism of these tactics with its CSV strategy, that is its Creative Storystelling Venture, or what it prefers to call Creating Shared Value.

[Unofficial translation - click here for original article in French]

Le Courrier, 26 January 2013, Saturday

[On the top of the front page]

INFILTRATION OF ATTAC

Nestlé and Securitas lose against ATTAC

A spy hired by Securitas had joined the working group drafting the book Attac contre l’Empire Nestlé [Attac against the Nestlé Empire].

The Civil Tribunal of Lausanne has found Nestlé and Securitas guilty of having spied on ATTAC in the Nestlégate case. In 2003, an agent, acting for the Vevey-based firm, had infiltrated the anti-globalization group.

Nestlé Chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathé, was using his familiar tactic of diversionary tactics in India last month and will be doing so again tomorrow (4 December 2012) at the European Parliament.

Baby Milk Action has been concerned about the impact of FTSE's decision in 2010 to weaken the breastmilk substitutes criteria of its FTSE4Good ethical investment listing, which led to Nestlé being included without having to bring its marketing practices into line with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant Resolutions of the World Health Assembly.

The Nestlé Chairman dismissed the Nestlé boycott and concerns about the company's baby milk marketing activities in India by referring to FTSE4Good. He told NDTV:

"There are issues that have been in the history of our company, which we can discuss. We feel that we know today we are complying 100% with the WHO Code. We have been recognised. We wouldn't be part of FTSE4Good if we hand't been recognised. We are being investigated independently from us by those institutions and we get the certificate of good behaviour, which I think corresponds to the way we are behaving."

This is misleading on many levels.

As Reuters reported on 19 October 2012, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) has linked with various junk food companies, including Nestlé.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has today released a statement distancing itself from the decision to accept money from the food and beverage industry, a decision it describes as "unfortunate".

During International Nestle-Free Week 2012 (29 October - 4 November) people have been sending messages to Nestle about its systematic violations of baby milk marketing rules and signing a petition of solidarity with the people of the Philippines. A message of thanks has just been received from campaigners in the Philippines (see below). 

Nestle-Free Week is a time for 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 it a go.

Above: Gloria joined the successful campaign with her son Miguel in 2007. Mothers and babies need your help again. Please sign the petition of solidarity. This is helping bring attention to this issue - see, for example, this report in the Philippines on 23 October 2012.

The September 2012 issue of Breastfeeding Briefs from the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) is on the theme of "Sleeping with the baby". It is guest edited by Dr Helen Ball who has researched and written extensively on this theme. 

The following is adapted from a comment I posted to the article: Dr Miriam Stoppard’s breastfeeding article is factually inaccurate and irresponsible, which appeared on The Independent blog, 21 August 2012.

Dr. Miriam Stoppard questioned the recommendation in the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding regarding exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life. Dr. Miriam Stoppard is known to us from her being called in by Nestlé in 2008 to help push its anti-boycott strategy - see campaign blog.

Wyeth is embarking on yet another national advertising campaign for its SMA formula. 

This must be costing millions of pounds - a bill ultimately paid by those who buy formula.

The subvert below made me think about how much mark up there is on formula.

UK monitoring assistant

Baby Milk Action welcomes the reports it receives from members of the public and health workers about baby food marketing practices that may break the marketing rules. The best way to make these reports to us is via the Baby Feeding Law Group website: http://www.babyfeedinglawgroup.org.uk/

We are looking for an intern in the UK to help us process these reports and conduct some other monitoring activities over the next three months. This is a unpaid voluntary post. Details below.

Internship position - mainly via internet

One or two days per week for three months

Closing date: Monday 23 July 2012, 6 pm.

Click here for a pdf file with further details.

Left: Gloria and Miguel at a protest to defend new baby milk marketing regulations in the Philippines in 2007. After Miguel became sick, Gloria realised she had been misled by baby milk promotion and decided to act to stop companies misleading other mothers. The regulations were successfully defended then, but they are under attack again in 2013.

The attack is led by Nestlé, together with Mead Johnson, Abbott and Fonterra. These companies put their own profits before infant health. Through the Department of Trade and Industry they are threatening members of congress by saying that the Philippines will lose US$400 million in investment if their draft law is not passed to remove the protection given by the existing Milk Code.

Please sign the petition on the AVAAZ site calling for legislators in the Philippines to protect mothers and babies from the baby food industry - click here.

According to the Philippines Department of Health 8,400 babies would be saved every year by optimal infant feeding practices. The regulations that came into effect in 2007 regulate the marketing of milks for babies and young children. They require clear warnings on labels about the protective effects of breastfeeding as specified by the Department of Health.

The Department of Health, the World Health Organisation and UNICEF have condemned a new draft law being pushed by the industry in the Congress, saying in a joint statement: "The draft House Bill... aims to support multinational companies while damaging the Filipino society: families, the mothers and children."

Further details below. We will keep updating this page as the situation develops and more information becomes available. 

Click here to download a pdf of the monster leaflet, with the logo (left) and ten facts Nestlé executives don't want people to know.

Print it double sided and cut in half to make two leaflets.

Further information on the ten points listed on the leaflet is given below.

This information is also available as an isite for reading on a smartphone. There is an QR code on the leaflet that can be scanned to access the isite.

Use our MyMeter iPhone app to raise the boycott when you see someone using a Nestlé product.

Mr. Chairman, Directors, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Baby Milk Action met with FTSE on 20 February 2012 with Dr. Arun Gupta of the Breastfeeding Protection Network of India.

Dr. Gupta raised concerns about illegal activities in India by Nestlé, the largest of the baby food companies. These include targeting of health workers with sponsorship and conferences.

I was going to include this expression in a press release sent out yesterday, but no-one in the office understood what it meant.

If you have to explain a joke then it isn't very funny. But here goes.

The latest edition of SCN News contains an article written by myself and Patti Rundall, our Policy Director, with this title. See page 51 of http://www.unscn.org/files/Publications/SCN_News/SCNNEWS39_10.01_high_def.pdf

I was pleased to provide information to the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) for a briefing it produced on Campaigning and the private sector - click here.

This includes profiles of the campaigning strategies of a range of organisations, including Amnesty International, Greenpeace and Baby Milk Action.

Although it includes in the title the question Persuasion or pressure? these are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, with some corporations it takes pressure to persuade them to act.

Over 1,000 people have sent emails to the Secretary of State for Health, Mr. Andrew Lansley, asking the Government to reconsider its decision to scrap its Infant Feeding Coordinator posts and its support for National Breastfeeding Awareness Week. The response from the Department of Health is given below.

Baby Milk Action and its partners have repeatedly raised concerns when mothers have been separated from their babies in immigration or detention centres or denied access to feed them. This action has led to questions being raised in Parliament and helped bring about changes to government procedures (press release from 2007 case).

We have been asked to support mothers' rights in a similar case in Spain, that of Habiba and her daughter.

(Campaign image by Louma Sader Bujana / AmorMaternal.com).

We are very grateful to Sally Etheridge for offering to raise funds for Baby Milk Action. She is taking place in 150 km bike ride on 25 June - during UK National Breastfeeding Awareness Week - and is seeking sponsors. 

Nestlé, Good Grief!

This Nestlé, Good Grief! jingle by Nick Rundall can be used as a ringtone or text/email alert on your mobile phone - a fun way to raise the Nestlé boycott! It is also played by the widget you can add to your website or blog.

The most common questions asked by parents and carers who intend to use infant formula are probably, ‘Which formula is the best?’ and ‘How do I make a bottle?’ A new film for health workers developed by Baby Milk Action with Mark-It TV and the Baby Feeding Law Group, aims to equip health workers with the information they need to answer these questions and others. A DVD can be ordered from Baby Milk Action's online Virtual Shop with a public performance licence - click here.

Thank you so much to everyone who has contacted their representatives in the European Parliament asking them to vote in favour of a Resolution to protect the rights of parents and carers to accurate information on infant formula. We know it is having an impact because those defending the rights of the baby food industry to put misleading claims onto formula are becoming more active and Mead Johnson has apparently hired an expensive  Public Relations firm,  to lobby politicians. We need the voices of the public to counter this offensive. Click here if you have not yet sent a message to your representatives in the European Parliament yet or to spread the word if you have. If you want to know the detail of what is taking place, read on.

As Nestlé goes on a Public Relations (PR) offensive trying to improve its image by linking to the Fairtrade name during International Nestlé-Free Week, it is a great opportunity to tell people why to boycott Nestlé Fairtrade KitKat, its token Fairtrade chocolate bar, involving just 2.6% of its cocoa purchase. You can download our leaflet 'Why boycott Nestlé Fairtrade KitKat' by clicking here. You can also invite your friends to the event on Facebook event - click here - and adapt our suggested message (given below) for posting as a comment on articles that highlight KitKat without mentioning other concerns.

Nestlé opened nominations for its Creating Shared Value prize this February 2011. The company could improve its public image by accepting Baby Milk Action's four-point plan for saving infant lives and ultimately ending the boycott - but instead it is opening its cheque book to try to buy itself some good publicity by co-opting the good reputation of others. However, there is a risk that anyone supporting Nestlé's Creating Shared Value award will find they are dragged down by association with one of the world's four most boycotted companies. And as news breaks in the UK about companies infiltrating environmental groups, we should remember that Nestlé is being pursued through the courts in Switzerland after spying on campaigners there.

Mr. Paul Bulcke (left), CEO of Nestlé SA, and his predecessor and current Nestlé Chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathé, are seeking to set the agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Swizerland this week. Nestlé is 'widely boycotted' in the words of its Global Public Affairs Manager, due to its aggressive marketing of baby foods in breach of international standards. Given the documentary evidence of systematic violations of the marketing requirements and the strategies employed by Mr. Bulcke and Mr Brabeck as they put their own profits before the lives and well-being of babies and their families, Baby Milk Action says it is ironic that Mr. Bulcke, co-chair of the meeting, believes he has any credibility in calling for "new global principles to fuel development". Mr. Bulcke, who was appointed CEO after achieving high growth in the baby food sector in Latin America, states in a press release on the Nestlé site: "When run in a principled way, with strong values and a long-term perspective, business can be an engine for development and prosperity."

 Mr. Brabeck has for decades advocated that corporations be trusted to follow voluntary principles and be given greater power in policy setting than civil society organisations as the "engineers of wealth". At the last Nestlé shareholder AGM in April 2010 Mr. Brabeck warned against tying corporations up in a “regulatory straightjacket”, saying this was unnecessary as people should trust Nestlé's values.  Mr. Brabeck's stance is inconsistent, however, because while opposing strong regulations protecting babies and their families in line with international marketing standards in favour of voluntary measures, he has argued that protection of company brands should be "entrenched in the law and strictly enforced by the authorities". Mr. Brabeck also argues publicly that corporations should be trusted as global citizens, but told business leaders in Boston in 2005, that corporations should not feel obligated to 'give back' to the community and should only support good causes if it will benefit shareholders.

 Mike Brady, Campaigns and Networking Coordinator at Baby Milk Action, said, "Mr. Bulcke and Mr. Brabeck have demonstrated the only principle they seem to understand is money - that is why we call on people around the world to join the boycott until they agree to stop pushing baby foods in ways that undermine breastfeeding and endanger babies fed on formula. The boycott has forced some changes, but they still have a long way to go. Mr. Bulcke is trying to present himself as a principled business leader on the global stage as part of his strategy to divert attention from what Nestlé's does in reality." 

Both Mr. Bulcke and Mr. Brabeck have rejected Baby Milk Action's four-point plan for saving infant lives and ultimately ending the boycott.

Q and A with Mike Brady

The Mumsnet parenting website invited their followers to post questions to be answered by Mike Brady, Campaigns and Networking Coordinator at Baby Milk Action, and the moderators selected the following as representative.

Edited versions of these answers have been posted on the Mumsnet site (there is a word limit on the answers) - full answers are given here with links to supporting information.

It is International Nestlé-Free Week from 25 - 31 October 2010 (press release). A week for people who boycott Nestlé over its baby milk pushing to do more to spread the word and for those who don't boycott to give it a go. This year people are being asked to email Nestlé over its last baby milk marketing strategy: it is claiming its formula 'protects' babies despite the fact that babies who are fed breastmilk substitutes are more likely to become sick than breastfed babies and, in conditions of poverty, more likely to die.

Funny!

Thanks to VictoriaSlinglady for this.

We are receiving many outraged reports from people who have seen that Danone is offering midwives grants of up to £1,000 from a fund of £20,000. This sponsorship is branded with the Danone formula name and logo, Aptamil (Danone is also behind the Nutricia, Milupa and Cow & Gate formula brands).

The money is being handled by the charity Tommy's.  I would say Danone is using the charity to 'launder' the money in an attempt to make it more acceptable.

The First Ulverston Breastfeeding Festival (16 - 22 August) was a thoroughly enjoyable event and one that deserves to grow. The town of Ulverston, close to the coast on the south side of the Lake District, is a delightful setting. I spoke on Friday in the Parish Church Hall, after a showing of the UNICEF Philippines film, Formula for Disaster. Many thanks to Jo Dawson for the invitation and for the hard work she put in with help from friends and family to make the event a reality. I really hope it becomes part of the calendar and inspires others in the UK and elsewhere.

There are links to the film and some of the information included in my presentation below, along with other news from the festival. My weekend at the festival was an opportunity to encourage people to email Nestlé over its latest baby milk marketing strategy (it is claiming its formula 'protects' babies, despite the fact that babies fed on formula are more likely to become sick than breastfed babies and, in conditions of poverty, more likely to die). Before reading on, take a minute to email Nestlé by clicking here (will open in a new window).

Nestlé sponsored the London Marathon in 2010 with its controversial Pure Life brand of bottled water. Only Nestlé water was available, creating a dilemma for runners who support the Nestlé boycott over its pushing of baby milk, who had to break their personal boycott or put their health at risk. 

Nestlé is the most boycotted company in the UK. Baby Milk Action asked the Virgin London Marathon for its sponsorship policy and a public statement on Nestlé's sponsorship.

We have been told:

"Nestle will continue as one of the sponsors to the Virgin London Marathon next year (2011).

"The London Marathon’s sponsorship policy is confidential to the organisation of the event including the Race Director, CEO, Board of Directors and Trustees."

Media coverage: Ekklesia 1 July 2010

We have just learned that the forthcoming Assembly of the United Reformed Church (4 July) presents an ideal opportunity to put pressure on Nestlé to stop its systematic violations of the World Health Assembly's marketing requirements for baby foods. If you will be attending the Assembly, please look at the up-to-date information in this site, particularly concerning Nestlé's current global baby milk marketing scam. Nestlé is claiming its baby milk 'protects' babies even though it knows babies fed on it are more likely to become sick than breastfed babies and, in conditions of poverty, more likely to die. Contact me if you would like to discuss this further. Nestlé puts its profits before all else and the changes we have compelled it to make have come from exposure, and the public backing the boycott and telling Nestlé they are doing so.

The Nestlé boycott works its magic again as sponsorship of the BlogHer conference by its Stouffer brand comes under scrutiny. The Conference is due to take place in New York in the United States (6 - 7 August). Ironically, this came to my attention by a posting on a blog by someone defending her decision to attend Nestlé's parenting-blogger event in California in October 2009, which led to a first-class public relations disaster on Twitter, the social networking site. Nestlé has an abysmal image in cyberspace and is trying to improve this. As debate rages over whether bloggers should attend the Conference and what they can do there to support the campaign if they do, some thoughts come to my mind, which I will share here. It is very welcome to see people taking a stand, but the fact that Nestlé is contributing to the unnecessary death and suffering of babies around the world is an uncomfortable fact to face if you are someone who loves a particular product or want to accept its largesse. Accordingly, facing the facts is generally avoided in the arguments for not taking a stand.

Nestle held a Forum in London today 27 May - broadcast on the internet - about its Creating Shared Value strategy. Nestle portrays itself as a model of ethical behaviour, driven by its values. Yet the claims it makes and reports it produces are very misleading. Baby Milk Action's questions were not posted to the discussion board - read them here.

Greenpeace is reporting that Nestlé has agreed to all of its demands regarding its sourcing of palm oil from suppliers accused of destroying Indonesian rainforest to produce it. Nestlé had earlier resisted calls to change its policies and practices and received many thousands of messages and Greenpeace campaigners dropped in - literally - on its shareholder meeting in Switzerland last April. Now it is saying it will source palm oil from sustainable sources by 2015. This will require careful monitoring; when Nestlé was targeted over child slavery in its cocoa supply chain it promised in 2001 to ensure this had ended within 5 years, but has still not delivered. From our own success in holding Nestlé to account, we know that its Public Relations team will be swinging into action to portray this as 'Nestlé taking the lead' - ignoring the great efforts campaigners have had to go to and using its climb down to divert attention from other concerns about it awful management behaviour.

Nestlé is the most boycotted company in the UK over the way it pushes baby milk and it is desperate to change the situation. It is reportedly paying celebrities US$10,000 per tweet to say nice things about it on Twitter and is hiring a PR firm to try to improve its image in cyberspace. Today it is sponsoring the London Marathon and is supplying branded Nestlé Pure Life water to runners around the course. We have produced leaflets for runners and others to hand out to use this as an opportunity to show they do not support Nestlé and have produced a press release including the following quote.

We have a boycott list with the main Nestlé brands in the UK. I was just adding a note that Nestlé is in the process of selling its Alcon contact lens solutions business to Novartis. This is due to complete in mid-2010. In the process I remembered I needed to update the link to Nestlé own brands page. We link to it from our boycott list, but Nestlé keeps changing the address of the page in small ways so the link dies (for example, its been changed from Brands.htm to BrandHome.htm). Thank you to everyone who contacted me about the dead link.

You can find our list with the link to Nestlé's latest page at
http://info.babymilkaction.org/nestleboycottlist

The game of 'find the Nestlé's brand page' is not the only one Nestlé likes to play. A new one surfaced when I visited the Annabel Karmel Facebook page today. Unsurprising as it was recruiting PR experts to try to improve its abysmal image in cyberspace. See:
http://boycottnestle.blogspot.com/2010/02/nestle-launches-cyberwar.html 

A investigative television programme on Channel 4's Dispatches in the UK is reporting on how corporate lobbyists recruit politicians to gain access to Government Ministers and the Chairs of influential Parliamentary committees.

This is the text of a talk I gave to the La Leche League Ireland Conference on 7 March 2010. The accompanying PowerPoint presentation is attached (see link at the foot of the page).

Mr Tom Levitt, Member of Parliament for Buxton, has announced he is standing down at the next election.

Nestlé bottles Buxton water in the town and has befriended its MP with free tickets to the Wimbledon tennis tournament and a free trip to South Africa.

After the trip, Mr. Levitt praised Nestlé and suggested it should no longer be criticised for issues he said were 30 years in the past. In the Buxton Advertiser today, he is again quoted defending his friends at Nestlé:
http://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/news/MP-Tom-denies-Nestle-job.6108297.jp