Sorry about my ranting yesterday, but there was something about seeing a
picture of a baby bottle with the words "GOOD FOR BABY TOO!" on a jar of
apple juice that pushed me over the edge.  I was consumed by anger at my
imagining an inexperienced mother of a newborn seeing that label and
substituting one or more daily feedings of breastmilk or even formula with
bottles of full-strength apple juice, thinking it was "GOOD FOR BABY."   The
malnutrition and gastro-intestinal upset that this could cause is too easy to
imagine.  After spending most of the day looking into this, I have started to
calm down a little, and I thought it would be helpful to report what happened
today and what I learned.

I spoke to the FDA's Center for Food Safety, Labelling Division.  They
invited me to lodge a complaint about the label, but provided no information
on whether or not there were any regulations requiring that food labels for
infant foods inform parents that the only foods approved for newborns through
about six months are breastmilk and formulas.  I spoke to one person at the
Center for Science in the Public Interest, who said she wasn't aware of any
such requirement.

I then called the juice company and discussed the label with a person in
their marketing dept. She was quite defensive, saying that all the baby food
companies have apple juice for babies, why not them?  I responded that I
thought the baby food companies did tell consumers that babies were not to
get anything but breastmilk or formula until six months (I was wrong, as you
will see).

Then I had a very interesting conversation with the consumer concerns person
at the head office of the supermarket chain where I bought (sorry, I had to
buy it to copy the label) the juice.  She said that, of the baby food
companies, only Heinz, to her knowledge, put something on the label about not
using other foods until 5 to 7 months. I then had to go to ToysRUs to buy a
birthday present for a party later this week, and I took the opportunity to
look at the Gerber Apple Juice label.  Sure enough, there is NOTHING on the
label about not using complementary foods until six months.

Then, I spoke to a vice president at the juice company, who was much more
affable (perhaps I was a little more calm by then, too).  He said the idea of
putting the baby bottle on the label was to inform consumers that their juice
(which is really no different from Gerber's, but much less expensive) was an
option for parents who were giving juice to their babies.  I pointed out that
it wasn't right for anyone to market juice for babies without making it clear
that very young infants should not be given juice.  I suggested that the baby
bottle be changed to a "sippy cup" (with a spout) and the words be changed to
"Good for Toddlers, Too."  He was non-committal, but friendly.

The upshot of all of this is that I am going to write a letter of complaint
to the FDA, but I am going to include all of the juices advertised for infant
consumption.  It might help if other people wrote as well.  The address is:
Food and Drug Administration, 200 C Street, SW, Washington, DC  20204.  I am
also aware that the National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy, and Action
for Corporate Accountability are preparing an administrative petition to
submit to the FDA requiring more complete labeling on infant foods.

That's all for now.  I think it's time I spent a few minutes with Hannah
before she goes to sleep!

Rachael Hamlet
Mom to Hannah (6/14/92), bf advocate
And Radical BF Lawyer Mom from Hell
Falls Church, VA