Eye witness evidence of Nestlé malpractice on eve of demonstration

Nestlé is the target of an international boycott because of its aggressive marketing of baby foods. A newspaper article and new film reveal how Nestlé continues to undermine breastfeeding, breaking international marketing standards, where laws have yet to be introduced and enforced.

People are always wanting to know whether Nestlé and other baby food companies are still misbehaving in the way they push their products. What is going on right now? The article in The Guardian on Tuesday was the journalist’s eye witness account from Bangladesh. See:
http://boycottnestle.blogspot.com/2007/05/guardian-investigates-nestl-in.html

Now you can see for yourself what is happening in the Philippines. This is a new film from UNICEF Philippines. We are contacting UNICEF to see if we can make this available on DVD. You can register your interest in having a copy – see below. In the meantime you can watch the clips UNICEF has posted today on Youtube. They are gathered together at:
http://boycottnestle.blogspot.com/2007/05/watch-film-from-philippines-here.html

This fresh confirmation of malpractice, further substantiates the documentary evidence gathered by Baby Milk Action and partners in the International Baby Food Action Network. Globally, IBFAN monitoring finds Nestlé to be the worst of the baby food companies, which is why it is targeted with boycott action. There will be a demonstration at Nestlé (UK) HQ on Saturday 19 May 11:00-12:00 and at other sites, shopping centres and Body Shop outlets around the country. See:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/action/demo07.html

We have just a few weeks left in our campaign of support for the Philippines to save the marketing regulations that could stop the type of practices you see in the film. At present the industry is winning and the regulations have been suspended by the Supreme Court. We need your help to make the regulations law.

The clips show how baby food companies undermine breastfeeding, contributing to the unnecessary death and suffering of infants.

You can see the conditions under which mothers are using formula. You can see some of the company promotions. You can hear health workers explaining the pressure they are under to recommend company products. You can listen to recordings given by hidden company representatives, who explain the strategies they are taught to use.

The film also explains how the government has introduced regulations to try to stop the aggressive marketing which undermines breastfeeding. Some mothers are convinced that their babies will be more intelligent if they use formula. If mothers have problems with breastfeeding, the promotion means they are more likely to think switching to formula will give their child the same or better benefits as breastfeeding and so will be less likely to seek support for breastfeeding.

The marketing regulations have been challenged by the Pharmaceutical and Health Care Association of the Philippines (which does not include Nestlé, which has opposed the measure in other ways). They want to carry on with business as usual.

After the US Chamber of Commerce put pressure on the President of the Philippines, the Supreme Court blocked the regulations. Next month the Supreme Court will rule on whether the regulations will stand or be struck down.

We have been campaigning in support of the Philippines and many of you will already have signed our petition of solidarity. If you have not, please do so now. The campaign to date has generated newspaper headlines in the Philippines and other countries. See:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/philippines/

If you would like a DVD of the film if we can make it available, you can register your interest via our on-line Virtual Shop and we will contact you on a first-come, first-served basis with the price once we have set this up. See
http://www.babymilkaction.org/

In fact, when my sister-in-law’s due date was nearing with her second baby, she asked me and my husband to pick up a can of GoodStarts “just in case” breastfeeding didn’t work out. It didn’t with her first baby, so she was nervous/skeptical.

I felt that having the “just in case” can of formula sitting right there would make it so easy to reach for the bottle if she had any difficulties. I offered instead to spend several days as soon as she got back from the hospital to help her with bf-ing. My son was a year old and bf-ing was going great for us. She was angry, but I had never bought formula and I couldn’t stand the thought of giving them any money that they can then use to undermine more women’s efforts to breastfeed. She took me up on my offer and its been going well for 7 months.

You obviously worked hard to breastfeed and I would never criticize any mother or assume to know what she went through.

That does not stop me from lamenting the lack of adequate breastfeeding support and medical information combined with the onslaught of deceptive formula advertising.

(Just for the record and only because you mentioned it, a mother can still breastfeed if her baby is allergic to milk. Mother’s milk is not the same as cow’s milk. If a mother eliminates dairy from her diet the child with a milk allergy can benefit from her milk and studies have actually shown that one of the best ways to prevent/minimize allergies is to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months).

Thanks Niki for voicing your opinion. Dissenting opinions are always welcome. It’s great to have a spirited discussion!