Archive site - new site at www.babymilkaction.org

Nestlé continues to claim :

“The Methodist Church is now a shareholder in Nestlé after the Church’s Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Investment (JACEI) said that there was “no compelling justification” against investment in the company on the basis of its involvement with breast milk substitutes.”

As we have reported previously, the Church Central Finance Board did invest, but explained why it did so:

“JACEI acknowledges and respects the work of organisations such as Baby Milk Action in highlighting the scandal of inappropriate marketing of breast milk substitutes. The way in which the CFB responds to such activities is to engage with company managements and seek change from within. These approaches should be seen as complementary strategies working to achieve a common aim.”

The Methodist Conference responded to the JACEI report by adopting a text stating:

“These concerns may cause some through conscience to maintain a consumer boycott of Nestlé products.”

The Methodist Church required Nestlé to remove its misleading statement from its website, but Nestlé continues to make it in letters and emails to people raising concerns about its marketing practices - Baby Milk Action recently received such an email when we contacted Nestlé about the formula promotion in Malawi shown on page 19. Nestlé did not respond to the issues we raised, but trotted out its line on the Methodist Church. We forwarded this to our contact at the Church who responded:

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I confirm that, in our meeting with Nestlé, we did raise the issue of the company’s reporting of the Methodist Church position on Nestlé. These reports could be read to imply that Methodist Church provides a full endorsement of the company’s performance on marketing of breast-milk substitutes which is not the case. Our position is outlined here :-

www.methodist.org.uk/downloads/ei_JACEI_nestle_statement. pdf

www.methodist.org.uk/downloads/
ei_nestle_Methodist_Church_press_release_241105. pdf

Methodist Conference have requested that we remain committed to engaging Senior Executives in the company on the issue of breast-milk substitute marketing and other ethical issues.

Baby Milk Action did warn the Central Finance Board at the outset that investing in Nestlé would be used to undermine the campaign and pointed out it was not necessary to be an investor to gain influence over the company - we believe it would have had more impact by refusing to invest while Nestlé violates the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant Resolutions of the World Health Assembly.

Our suggestion was for the Church to back our call for Nestlé to attend our proposed independent, expert tribunal into its practices, particularly as JACEI had commented:

“this was a complex and difficult issue.... highly technical... it would be possible to continue the discussion ad nauseum... the Committee did not have resources to do so.”

While it is welcome that the Church has raised Nestlé’s misrepresentation of its investment, it is a concern that Nestlé has continued undermining out work regardless for three years, while paying dividends to the Central Finance Board from the profits it makes while doing so. The £1 million investment to ‘seek change from within’ has not stopped Nestlé. Nor has it prevented Nestlé launching a global relabelling campaign claiming its formula ‘protects’ babies. Perhaps it is time for the Central Finance Board to learn from how our public campaigns shaming Nestlé force changes (see page 19).

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