PHM-Exch> strong legislation controlling baby food and junk food marketing needed

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Patti Rundall <prundall at babymilkaction.org>


*For online version *CLICK HERE <http://info.babymilkaction.org/if>*: *
http://info.babymilkaction.org/if

*
*
The International Baby Food Action Network Network (IBFAN) the 33 year-old
global network that works to protect, promote and support breastfeeding and
optimal  complementary feeding, is pleased that  ahead of next week's G8
summit,  the “*Enough Food For Everyone” IF <http://enoughfoodif.org/>*
 campaign <http://enoughfoodif.org/> is drawing attention to  malnutrition
 -  an outrage that we must all address.

The campaign's focus on land grabbing, tax dodging,  transparency and the
support of small farmers is also welcome. So too is the acknowledgement of
the importance of breastfeeding.   However, this must be carefully handled
if the emphasis on fortification is not to be hijacked by corporations
intent on selling unhealthy foods.

Many large  food corporations are already using the *'prevention of
malnutrition'*  as the perfect cover in pursuit of their  top strategic
objective -  to change  traditional food patterns and replace local foods
with less healthy ultra-processed foods (1) - foods that have a long shelf
life and are invariably expensive and unsustainable.  Most recently, in *
Mexico*, in the* Crusade Against
Hunge<http://info.babymilkaction.org/pressrelease/pressrelease09apr130>
*r <http://info.babymilkaction.org/pressrelease/pressrelease09apr130>  *
Nestlé* - the world largest food company and the subject of an
international Boycott for its aggressive marketing of baby foods - has
offered to train 15,000 women to sell deserts and to give nutrition advice.
 While *Pepsi* has offered to develop a special fortified formula for
pregnant and nursing mothers - a strategy that will almost certainly
undermine women's  confidence in their ability to  breastfeed and will pave
the way for yet more formulas.
 These strategies are  sometimes  portrayed as a win-win solution for the
economy and development  but they have huge risks - not only for child
survival and family budgets, but also in relation to the double burden of
malnutrition, both under and over nutrition.  Mexico has one of the world's
highest levels of obesity and one of the lowest breastfeeding rates.

All over the world companies are using wild and misleading micronutrient
claims to suggest that formulas protect children from infection and make
them  cleverer - so much so that  people are forgetting that  breastmilk
alongside diverse healthy  family foods invariably contain all the
essential nutrients  children need.

All the evidence - including the just published  Lancet  Maternal Child
Nutrition<http://www.thelancet.com/series/maternal-and-child-nutrition?elsca1=FB&elsca2=socialmedia>
 series
-shows the critical importance of breastfeeding and sound complementary
feeding and that the implementation of World Health Assembly
recommendations (2) should be an essential core factor in addressing child
malnutrition,  alongside wisely targeted fortification of staples.  Paper 4
in the Lancet series, *The politics of reducing malnutrition: building
commitment and accelerating progress,  states*:  * "Governments need to
play their part by  enshrining the code and subsequent resolutions into
 national law, and putting independent, transparent, and  effective
monitoring mechanisms in place" *

* *While many governments do have legislation and controls in place, these
laws  are under threat from the same corporations, who also work to
undermine global foods standards at the *Codex Alimentarius*
<http://info.babymilkaction.org/pressrelease/pressrelease24nov110>level
(3) .  Since many processed  baby foods are of inferior quality, with high
levels of sugar and other additives, IBFAN has been working for many years
 to develop  standards that are as strong as possible that could be brought
into national legislation to ensure that ALL  baby foods and formulas meet
sound safety and nutrition standards and are responsibly marketed.

*We welcome the fact that the IF campaign so far has NOT included the baby
food companies such as Nestlé and Danone,  recognising the clear conflict
of interest. However, since the campaign strongly promotes the involvement
of the private sector,  the risk of undue influence remains and should be
clearly explained and publicised.  Isn't this what transparency is about?
While  businesses of all kinds and sizes  will always play an important
tole in development, **they should never be allowed to influence policy
setting  **- especially if they have a vested and commercial interest in
the outcome.  Health policies must be based on truly independent and
objective science. Innovative ideas - however alluring  - should  be
evaluated carefully in the public interest  by those who have a duty to
protect public health.*

*It is essential that  governments implement legislation that will protect
will protect breastfeeding and sound child nutrition  and stop the
misleading commercial promotion that is undermining it,.  The companies are
now using all kinds of strategies to promote sweetened  expensive and
unnecessary formulas and foods  for older babies  that all share the same
branding as formulas for new born babies.  Unless our regulations keep pace
all our efforts to protect infant health will be sabotaged.*


* *(1) CLICK HERE<http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2962089-3/abstract>
 for * Profits and pandemics: prevention of harmful effects of tobacco,
alcohol, and ultra-processed food and drink industries. *

*Ultra-processed products are made from processed substances extracted or
refined from whole foods—eg, oils, hydrogenated oils and fats, fl ours and
starches, variants of sugar, and cheap parts or remnants of animal
foods—with little or no whole foods. ** *
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2962089-3/abstract


2 The *World Health Assembly *recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the
first six months and continued breastfeeding alongside family foods for 2
years and beyond.

 The *Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding* calls on Member
States to provide:* "sound and culture-specific nutrition counselling to
mothers of young children and recommending the widest possible use of
indigenous foodstuffs will help ensure that local foods are prepared and
fed safely in the home. The agriculture sector has a particularly important
role to play in ensuring that suitable foods for use in complementary
feeding are produced, readily available and affordable….. In addition,
low-cost complementary foods, prepared with locally available ingredients
using suitable small-scale production technologies in community settings,
can help to meet the nutritional needs of older infants and young children.
Industrially processed complementary foods also provide an option for some
mothers who have the means to buy them and the knowledge and facilities to
prepare and feed them safely. Processed-food products for infants and young
children should, when sold or otherwise distributed, meet applicable
standards recommended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and also the
Codex Code of Hygienic Practice for Foods for Infants and Children."*

(3) *The Business of malnutrition: breaking down trade rules to profit from
the poor*
http://info.babymilkaction.org/pressrelease/pressrelease24nov110


*CLICK HERE*<http://info.babymilkaction.org/sites/info.babymilkaction.org/files/Update45medium.pdf>
 for
Baby Milk Action'*s  **UPDATE 45*
<http://info.babymilkaction.org/sites/info.babymilkaction.org/files/Update45medium.pdf>newsletter
-  with many other stories including


The *Crusade Against Hunger * in Mexico where Nestlé - the world biggest
baby food company - is being asked to train 15,000 women to sell deserts
while giving 'nutrition education' and Pepsi is creating a milk for mothers
- which all almost certainly undermine confidence in breastfeeding.  (pages
6-7)   Also  CLICK HERE and HERE

New legislation in *Kenya*,* South Africa* and *Cambodia *controlling the
marketing of products targeting young children (pages 14 &15)

IBFAN's concerns about *Public Private Partnerships * in nutrition
campaigns. (pages 23-26)

IBFAN's * World  Breastfeeding trends Initiative* - outlining how to
improve breastfeeding rates (pages 10-11)

Latest news about* Nestle* and *Danone* and the company takeover of Social
Media (pages 18-21)


*Click here<http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/publications01.html#lwtduk2013>
* for a  *Look What they are doing in the UK*   a report on what the
companies are doing in the Uk

*CLICK here* <http://info.babymilkaction.org/obesitybottlefeeding> for new
Study linking bottle feeding to obesity

*CLICK here* <http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/91/6/12-109363.pdf> for  *WHO
Bulletin  Breastfeeding policy -* a globally comparative analysis  shows
that  *"A greater percentage of women practise exclusive breastfeeding in
countries where laws guarantee breastfeeding breaks at work. If these
findings are confirmed in longitudinal studies, health outcomes could be
improved by passing legislation on breastfeeding breaks in countries that
do not yet ensure the right to breastfeed."*

*CLICK HERE* <http://info.babymilkaction.org/66thWHA2013> for news about
discussions at the *World Health Assembly* about Conflicts of Interest and
Non Communicable Diseases. * Click
here<http://info.babymilkaction.org/NewjobsforRonaldandTony>
* for our efforts to get into the United Nations dressed as Kelloggs', Tony
the Tiger  and  Ronald MacDonald.
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