PHA-Exch> Baby Milk Action's Update newsletter UD 41

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Patti Rundall prundall at babymilkaction.org

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*Baby Milk Action's newsletter Update 41  is  available to view on line and
to download as a pdf file. *
http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41.html   with links to
supporting documents and hi-resolution images.



*TOP STORIES: *

*Editorial:* Strong regulations needed as Nestlé and Danone battle it out in
a consolidating market: Nestlé, the worst of the baby food companies, has
grown bigger with its acquisition of Gerber and the signs are that the new
Chief Executive, Mr. Paul Bulcke, is the same as the old boss – rejecting a
plan calling for it to abide by international baby food marketing standards,
which are the benchmarks for the Nestlé Boycott (Examples from around the
world show how Nestlé continues to put profits before infant health
(Examples from South Africa, Laos and China).

*PPPs and Danone* has become Nestlé's strongest rival with the takeover of
Numico brands (Nutricia, Milupa and Cow & Gate). After promising a 'root and
branch' review of marketing practices, Danone is actually appearing more
aggressive than *Numico*.   We look at *Public Private Partnerships* such as
the *Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition* (GAIN) which has Danone on its
board and ask - whose interest these bodies really serve?
http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41b.html#02

*Melamine in baby milk scandal*. The hospitalisation of thousands of babies
in China, and the death of four, due to contamination in milk was headline
news around the world. But the reports missed some of the wider context,
such as the fact that 300,000 children under 5 die each year in China from
diarrhoea and respiratory illness with a large proportion of these deaths
(perhaps a third) being due to poor infant feeding practices, including
bottle feeding. Sanlu was recently advertising its formula on buses and
Nestlé promoted its in 'Nutrition Corners', so undermining breastfeeding.
http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41b.html#05

*Goodnight Milks  Update 41 has an expose of the aggressive promotion of a
new range of milks called Goodnight milks - manufacturered by Cow & Gate
(Danone) and Hipp. The UK Government's Scientific Advisory Body on Nutrition
(SACN) has recently issued a statement expressing concern that  Goodnight
Milks could undermine breastfeeding and that  there is no evidence to
support the claims that these products offer nutritional or other health
advantages. SACN is also concerned that the claims that they 'settle' babies
could promote poor dental health.
http://www.sacn.gov.uk/reports_position_statements/position_statements/sacn_statement_on_good_night_milks_-_november_2008.html

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*Former MI6 agent ran Nestlé spy operation. *Nestlé hired a secret agent to
infiltrate the Swiss ATTAC campaign group when it was producing a book on
Nestlé's business. This was one of the stories reported on the new Nestlé
Critics website, launched during International Nestlé-Free Week in October.
In an attempt to hi-jack the site, Nestlé claimed it was "passing off" as a
company site and demanded the domain name – Baby Milk Action refused to hand
it over, concerned by Nestlé's history of deceiving campaigners to gain
sensitive information.
http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41c.html#05

*UK law*: High court action and monitoring. In October the UN Committee on
the Rights of the Child criticised the UK Government for the second time for
failing to implement international baby food marketing standards and
commented that aggressive marketing is "common". The weak narrow laws that
came in January failed to impress the Committee - all the same, these were
opposed by the baby food industry, which took legal action the day before
they were to come into effect to delay the few strong requirements they
contained even further. Baby Milk Action provided evidence from the
monitoring project it coordinates on behalf of the Baby Feeding Law Group.
The latest report exposes marketing practices and lack of action from the
authorities. Nestlé is the only company to have been taken to task so far,
for distributing a video with does not have the required approval from
health authorities.

*Martek health claims rejected by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA)*.
Martek makes LCP additives for formula, which companies promote as being
important for 'brain and eye development. EFSA is investigating thousands of
claims, such as " Kinder `Chocolate is the chocolate that helps you grow"
and found the MARTEK claims were not supported by the evidence.
http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41b.html#04a



  For  Christmas you might also like to check out the great gift ideas in
our Virtual Shop -  perhaps send someone their first year's membership of
Baby Milk Action.
All profits help to fund our work in protecting mothers' rights and infant
health.  <http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/>
http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/
<http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/>
http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/membership.html#gift

There is also our breastfeeding calendar and several new publications,
including The Politics of Breastfeeding  due out in early 2009



Baby Milk Action coordinates Company Campaigns for the global network IBFAN.
  See the IBFAN website for details of IBFAN's regional offices.
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