Rekindled

Why is it that some large corporations seem to think they can do whatever they want in order to increase profits?  Their sole purpose seems to be making more and more money and they can end up behaving in ways that are completely unethical.

For example, Nestle (and other companies) continually breach international marketing guidelines on baby milk, leading to infant deaths and suffering around the world.  The International Marketing Code (1981) states that any marketing activity should not undermine breastfeeding, and yet many companies continually breach this code.  Nestle has consistently been the worst offender.

Breast milk is the best possible food for babies and the World Health Organisation recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed until 6 months of age whenever possible.  It contains all the nutrients a baby needs, as well as antibodies that help prevent childhood illnesses.  Increasing breastfeeding rates would help to decrease child mortality.  In addition, there is growing evidence that children who are breast fed are less likely to have health problems in their adult life.

In developing countries there are two further problems with the aggressive marketing of baby milk products.  Firstly, many mothers have to use dirty water to make up the formula.  There may be no facilities for sterilising the water, and even if there are, many people are unaware of the need to sterilise the water due to lack of education or illiteracy.  Secondly, formula costs money, unlike breast milk which is free.  If a family is living in poverty the mother may dilute the formula to make it go further, which leads to infant malnutrition.

So what exactly does ‘aggressive marketing’ mean?  Here are some real-life examples:

1. Supplying baby formula free of charge in hospitals to new mothers. Giving away baby milk for free is a good thing, right?  Unfortunately not.  Once a mother stops breastfeeding then her body will stop producing milk.  Once mother and baby leave the hospital, she has no choice but to continue using formula, but now she has to pay to feed her baby.  This practice was banned by the World Health Authority in 1994.
2. Selling baby formula with labels in the wrong language. This means that parents cannot read the information about formula, let alone the instructions for how to mix the formula correctly and safely.
3. Giving free formula as humanitarian aid/disaster relief. This again causes the same problem as (1), and is often labelled with the wrong language as per (2).  In an emergency situation there many not be enough clean water or fuel (to warm the milk) to make up the formula safely.
4. Undermining breastfeeding by making health claims about formula. For example, adverts for baby milk formula often mention the health benefits of the product – but compared to breast milk it is nowhere near as good.
5. Directly promoting to pregnant women and new mums. For example direct mail, free samples, parent clubs etc.
6. Promoting to health professionals. E.g. providing free gifts or even commissions.  This is banned by the International Code.
7. Lobbying governments against measures to promote breastfeeding.

So what can we do to stop this?  Well, as ‘consumers’ our main power is in how we spend our money.  So if you disagree with a company’s actions, stop buying their products.  I have decided to boycott all Nestle products.  There is a list of all the brands that Nestle profits from on the Baby Milk Action website.  I have just found out this week that the Body Shop, which up until now has been my favourite place for make up and skincare products, is one of these brands, so I now have a big dilemma.  I can’t decide whether I should add Body Shop to my personal boycott or whether that would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, since I believe that the Body Shop itself has high ethical standards.  What do you think?  Leave a comment to let me know if you are joining the boycott too.

For more information see:

• Baby Milk Action
• The International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN)
• World Health Organisation: Breastfeeding
• Patient UK: Breastfeeding – The Benefits