Are there any lengths to which these formula companies will not go to 
aggressively and unethically promote their products?

I have posted this issue before but there is more to come.  For the past 
couple of years, a charity which provides food to needy children has been 
soliciting donations of formula.  Their literature displays the logo of a 
local formula, guess who the parent company is - of course Nestle.
I have written on three occasions to the charity`s managers pointing out 
that
a) they are totally contravening the WHO Code on the Marketing of Artificial 
Baby Foods and
b) did they think ahead to when the donations stop - needy parents will not 
be able to afford to continue providing this food to their babies and will 
either over-dilute or fill bottles with unsuitable foods, e.g. as I have 
seen on occasions babies fed with sweet biscuits soaked in hot water and
c) would it not be more constructive to subside a low-cost or no-cost 
breastfeeding help line.
I for one would be prepared to volunteer my services and I am sure that many 
of our BFCs would be happy to do so.
Of course I got no reply to these letters.  In addition, for the past few 
months there has been a series of full-page ads for this charity  in the 
newspapers showing two beautiful healthy babies and asking readers to make 
sure babies in need get donations of formula.  There is no mention of the 
formula company in these ads but it is obvious that it is a continuation of 
the promotion of that owned by Nestle.
In this ad, the charity claims that as "thousands of new mothers cannot 
breastfeed,"  babies will only survive if readers donate money to keep them 
supplied with formula.
I write regularly for one of the two English-language dailies so I sent in 
an Op-ed on the entire issue of unethical promotion of formula entitled "The 
Hidden Persuaders."  My dissertation when I studied psychology was based on 
that required course textbook and I used this to illustrate how people can 
swallow a phrase: "thousands of mothers" whereas only a tiny percentage of 
women are physically unable to breastfeed.

The editor replied that it was interesting but not appropriate for their 
readership. What she meant of course was that this newspaper could not 
possibly risk alienating an advertiser who was paying for a full-page on a 
regular basis.
What next?
Wendy Blumfield
NCT Trained Tutor ANT/BFC
Israel Childbirth Education Centre


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Sent: Monday, June 07, 2010 11:55 PM
Subject: LACTNET Digest - 7 Jun 2010 - Special issue (#2010-469)

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