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Nestle has not posted the questions from Baby Milk Action (other than the general one on CSV and CSR below, where it did not post Baby Milk Action's responses).

But thanks to members of the public also raising questions (none of which have been posted), Nestlé has been moved to respond on its discussion forum as follows:

http://www.creatingsharedvalue.org/post/2010/05/21/Nutrition-and-Development.aspx

Hi everyone, in response to a few questions we have received about infant formula, here is an outline of our position.  It's not the topic of this Forum, but you can also read more about it at http://www.babymilk.nestle.com/ 

Going as far back as 1867, when our founder Henri Nestlé said: "During the first few months the mother’s milk will always be the most natural nutriment, and every mother able to do so, should suckle her child herself” we have, and continue to, support breastfeeding, communicating this in labels, brochures and other means. 

However, when mothers cannot, or choose not to, breastfeed, infant formula is vitally important for infants.  It is the only product recognised to be a suitable breast-milk substitute by the United Nations Codex Alimentarius Commission, the international food standard setting body.  Other breast-milk substitutes such as sugar water, starch and water, or whole cow’s milk are dangerous to infants’ health and survival.  More information on this topic can be found here: http://www.babymilk.nestle.com/   

Nestlé reply posted at: 

http://www.creatingsharedvalue.org/post/2010/05/21/Creating-Shared-Value-Leveraging-Business-for-Development.aspx

@Mike: Thank you for your question. 

In contrast to the conventional concept of CSR of philanthropic contributions and aid by corporations, Creating Shared Value is about leveraging core activities and partnerships for the joint benefit of society and shareholders over the long term.   

Traditional CSR, on the other hand, is being questioned and criticised by opinion leaders, NGOs, responsible investors, and media as it generally does not deliver scale and often cannot be sustained in times of economic hardship. Today’s Forum is a chance to discuss the concept of Creating Shared Value, and key issues such as water, nutrition and rural development, to make it even more relevant to meeting the needs of today’s world. 

In response to: 

Aren't CSR and CSV the same old Public Relations spin and the only companies that will find relevance in CSV are those that who have awful images due to their corporate malpractice? 

Mike Brady

Baby Milk Action reply to above

In response to Krodger. Please give me a break! You write: "Creating Shared Value is about leveraging core activities and partnerships for the joint benefit of society and shareholders over the long term."

As practised by Nestlé CSV is a PR enterprise aimed at covering systematic human rights and environmental abuses. The Nestlé Critics grouping of campaign organisations has critiqued past reports to expose what Nestlé ignores and misrepresents. See: http://www.babymilkaction.org/press/press17june09.html

The very fact that Nestlé is promoting its baby milk around the world with the claim that it 'protects' babies when it knows full well that babies fed on it are more likely to become sick than breastfed babies and, in conditions of poverty, more likely to die, shows that Nestlé values its own profits before the lives of babies. There is simply no excuse for this marketing strategy, yet Nestlé repeatedly defends it, including at the Nestlé shareholder meeting when Baby Milk Action raised this on 15 April 2010.

http://info.babymilkaction.org/news/campaignblog260510

You can throw as much money as you like at events like today's, but people will continue to boycott Nestlé while what you do shows what you proclaim to be self-serving propaganda. Why would anyone would look to Nestlé, which is the most boycotted company in the world according to an independent survey conducted by GMIPoll, for lessons on anything other than how not to behave?

My question to the panel:

"Nestlé is promoting its baby milk with the claim it 'protects' babies, endangering health and violating international standards - and attempting to use its Creating Shared Value strategy to divert criticism. This is just one example showing Mr. Brabeck's CSV strategy is dishonest. How can anyone on the panel give this initiative credibility when Nestlé's practices on the ground show it puts profits before health, human rights and the environment?"