<div class="gmail_quote">From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Patti Rundall</b> <span dir="ltr"><a href="mailto:prundall@babymilkaction.org">prundall@babymilkaction.org</a></span><br><br>
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<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><b>Baby Milk Action's newsletter Update 41 is available to view on line and to download as a pdf file. </b></div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><a href="http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41.html" target="_blank">http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41.html</a></span> with links to supporting documents and hi-resolution images. </div>
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<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><b>TOP STORIES: </b></div></div>
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<div><b>Editorial:</b> 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).<br>
<br><b>PPPs and Danone</b> 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 <b>Numico</b>. We look at <b>Public Private Partnerships</b> such as the <b>Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition</b> (GAIN) which has Danone on its board and ask - whose interest these bodies really serve? <font color="#3a3da0"><a href="http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41b.html#02" target="_blank">http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41b.html#02</a></font></div>
<div><br><b>Melamine in baby milk scandal</b>. 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. <font color="#492ca0"><a href="http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41b.html#05" target="_blank">http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41b.html#05</a></font><br>
<br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"><b>Goodnight Milks </b> 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. <br>
<font color="#3a55a0"><a href="http://www.sacn.gov.uk/reports_position_statements/position_statements/sacn_statement_on_good_night_milks_-_november_2008.html" target="_blank">http://www.sacn.gov.uk/reports_position_statements/position_statements/sacn_statement_on_good_night_milks_-_november_2008.html</a></font><br>
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<div><b>Former MI6 agent ran Nestlé spy operation. </b>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. <font color="#2c2aa0"> <a href="http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41c.html#05" target="_blank">http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41c.html#05</a></font><br>
<br><b>UK law</b>: 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.<br>
<br><b>Martek health claims rejected by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA)</b>. 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. <font color="#2019a0"><a href="http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41b.html#04a" target="_blank">http://www.babymilkaction.org/update/update41b.html#04a</a></font></div>
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<div>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.<br>All profits help to fund our work in protecting mothers' rights and infant health. <a href="http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/" target="_blank"></a></div>
<div><a href="http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/" target="_blank">http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/</a><a style="TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/" target="_blank"><font color="#000000"> </font></a><a href="http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/membership.html#gift" target="_blank">http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/membership.html#gift</a><br>
<br>There is also our breastfeeding calendar and several new publications, including The Politics of Breastfeeding due out in early 2009 </div>
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<div><font face="Arial"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica">Baby Milk Action coordinates Company Campaigns for the global network IBFAN. See the IBFAN website for details of IBFAN's regional offices. <br>
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