This is going to several lists, my apologies for duplication for some of
you - i thought some of you might be interested in this bill that has been
introduced to the california legislature - it is a pretty exciting attempt
at enforcing the WHO Code, and i just heard about it at the ILCA regional
conference in Berkeley, CA - anyone else who was there? Here is the link
if you want to read it on the web, but i have pasted the whole thing below
as well. I am not sure what kind of public support, if any, would be
helpful to get this bill passed - perhaps some of you with more experience
in the political realm have some thoughts.
Warmly, Lyla
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_2401-2450/ab_2447_bill_20020221_introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2447 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Goldberg
FEBRUARY 21, 2002
An act to add Article 9 (commencing with Section 124172) to
Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to infant health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2447, as introduced, Goldberg. Infants: formula.
Existing law establishes various provisions relating to the health
of infants, pregnant women, and mothers of infants.
This bill would prohibit a manufacturer of infant formula from
sending, or a hospital or health care provider from distributing,
unsolicited samples of infant formula to a mother without obtaining
her written consent on a form that contains information about the
drawbacks of feeding a baby infant formula and the benefits of
breastfeeding.
This bill would also prohibit a hospital or healthcare
professional from providing information about a mother to a
manufacturer of infant formula without obtaining her written consent
on a form that contains information about the drawbacks of feeding a
baby infant formula and the benefits of breastfeeding.
This bill would require the department to assess a civil penalty
of $500 for a violation of the bill.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Manufacturers of infant formula commonly send new mothers
unsolicited samples of free infant formula. These actions by formula
manufacturers violate the World Health Organization's International
Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes, which the United States
signed in 1994.
(b) Although the practice of sending unsolicited samples of infant
formulas to new or expectant mothers may seem innocuous and even
generous on the part of manufacturers, it is done as part of an
aggressive marketing strategy. This marketing strategy is designed
to result in the early supplementation of infant formula in the diets
of infants and to lead to the premature weaning of infants from
breastfeeding.
(c) Health experts, including the Surgeon General, the American
Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the
Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecologists, the American Dietetic
Association, the American College of Nurse Midwives, and the State
Department of Health Services, agree that breastfeeding is the ideal
method of feeding and nurturing infants, that breast milk is the most
complete form of nutrition for infants, that breastfeeding protects
infants from a wide array of infectious and noninfectious diseases,
and that breastfeeding improves maternal health by reducing
postpartum bleeding and lowering the risk of premenopausal breast
cancer and ovarian cancer.
(d) Furthermore, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends
that infants should be exclusively breastfed for six months before
being introduced to any complementary foods.
(e) The use of formula can cause a mother's milk supply to
decrease, often leading a mother to think that she must further
supplement her baby's milk intake with formula. The result is often
the early and undesired weaning of the infant from breast milk to
formula.
SEC. 2. Article 9 (commencing with Section 124172) is added to
Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
Article 9. Infant Formula
124172. (a) No manufacturer of infant formula shall distribute in
this state free samples of infant formula to a mother, an expectant
mother, or family members of a mother or an expectant mother, unless
these samples are requested in a written form that she has signed
that clearly states information about both the risks associated with
feeding infant formula to a baby and the benefits of breastfeeding.
(b) No hospital or health care professional shall distribute in
this state free samples of infant formula to a mother, an expectant
mother, or family members of a mother or an expectant mother unless
these samples are requested in a written form that she has signed
that clearly states information about both the risks associated with
feeding infant formula to a baby and the benefits of breastfeeding.
124173. No hospital or health care professional shall share
information with, or sell or otherwise communicate personal
information to, infant formula manufacturers about a mother or an
expectant mother unless she has consented for the information to be
released by signing a form that clearly states information about both
the risks associated with feeding a baby infant formula and the
benefits of breastfeeding.
124174. The department may assess a civil penalty of five hundred
dollars ($500) for a violation of this article.
Lyla Wolfenstein
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