Gerber (Novartis) pushes bottles and fails to act on '6 months' requirements
Background:
The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes prohibits the promotion of products within its scope, which includes feeding bottles and teats.
One of the companies found to be particularly aggressive in pushing feeding bottles is the company Gerber, a subsidiary of Swiss Novartis. It advertises in print and on the internet, using idealising text and images and encouraging parents to supplement breastfeeding with bottles.
On its website it draws equivalence between its Nuk teats and breastfeeding, claiming: "Shaped like mother's nipple when breastfeeding". It refers to its bottles as 'baby friendly', an expression associated with UNICEF's Baby Friendly Hospital initiative, stating: "Generations of parents have chosen Gerber for their bottle feeding needs. Whether parents are looking for convenience, style or baby-friendly design, Gerber is the brand they prefer."
Gerber promotes products for different 'development phases', promoting its Comfort bottles as 'the right products' for the newborn phase: newborn' (click here).
Gerber uses images of fathers feeding infants in its advertisements (picture shown right accessed 27 September 2006).
It promotes its bottles as convenient for other family members to feed the infant, stating (click here): |
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"Let others help: Many dads, grandparents and other caregivers can bond with baby by taking part in the feeding process. They can help by giving a bottle of expressed milk or formula in the early evening or in the middle of the night. This gives mom a chance to rest and gives other special caregivers an opportunity to feed baby and form emotional bonds."
Introducing bottles interferes with lactation and will cause a mother's milk supply to decrease.
Gerber claims its 'new traditions' bottle "makes it easy to go back and forth between breast and bottle" in this advertisement in Singapore from June 2004. (Click here for larger version).
In reality introducing bottles makes it harder for a mother to continue breastfeeding. Health experts recommend cups are used.
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Gerber encourages parents to sign up to its 'Growing up Gerber Club and receive special priviliges' in the advertisement above and to sign up to receive information on its website. Seeking direct or indirect contact with pregnant women and mothers of infants and young children violates Article 5.5 of the International Code.
Gerber also produces complementary foods. Baby Milk Action has campaigned in the past for Gerber to abide by Resolution 47.5 adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1994 which calls for complementary feeding to be fostered from 'about 6 months' of age (see June 2003 sheet). This was reiterated in 2001 with Resolution 54.2 which called for exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months as public health policy.
On its website Gerber has switched to promoting 'phases' without giving the World Health Assembly recommendations.
Suggested letter to the man responsible: Daniel Vasella, Chairman and Chief Executive, Novartis International, AG CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland. Fax: +41 61 324 80 01. If you wish to submit a comment on-line this is limited to 500 characters, so click here for a shorter message.
As you know the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes prohibits the promotion of products within its scope, which includes feeding bottles and teats.
Article 5.1 states: "There should be no advertising or other form of promotion to the general public of products within the scope of this Code."
Article 5.5 states: "Marketing personnel, in their business capacity, should not seek direct or indirect contact of any kind with pregnant women or with mothers of infants and young children."
Yet Novartis/Gerber is advertising feeding bottles on its website and in magazines. It is seeking direct contact through its website, telephone lines, email lists, advertisements and leaflets.
As you are presumably aware, since 1994 the World Health Assembly has called for complementary feeding to be fostered from about 6 months of age. The recommendation in the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding is: "As a global public health recommendation, infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health. Thereafter, to meet their evolving nutritional requirements, infants should receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond."
In its promotional materials, however, Novartis/Gerber is encouraging parents to introduce feeding bottles, so undermining breastfeeding, and does not appear to give information on the 'six month' recommendation for introduction of complementary foods.
Accordingly I request that Novartis/Gerber change its policies and practices to bring them into line with the Code and Resolutions immediately. |
Suggested message for submitting via the Novartis website - click here.
Novartis/Gerber is advertising feeding bottles on its website and in magazines in breach of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant Resolutions of the World Health Assembly. It is seeking direct contact with mothers. It encourages parents to introduce feeding bottles, so undermining breastfeeding, and does not appear to give information on the age of introduction of complementary foods. Please rectify this immediately. |
Nestlé and the Indian law on sponsorship
Background:
Since 1997 the Indian Academy of Pediatrics has had a policy of refusing sponsorship from companies that make products covered by the Indian Infant Milk Substitutes Act (1992). This act was revised in 2003 and put the ban on sponsorship into legal force.
This does not appear to have deterred Nestlé. The law is very clear, stating (section 9(2)):
"...No producer, supplier or distributor referred to in sub-section (1), shall offer or give any contribution or pecuniary benefit to a health worker or any association of health workers, including funding of seminar, meeting, conferences, educational course, contest, fellowship, research work or sponsorship."
India is amongst the first countries to implement World Health Assembly Resolutions 47.5 (from 1994) and Resolution 58.32 (from 2005) on care over conflicts of interest. Companies should be respecting these Resolutions independently of government measures.
In India Nestlé continues to try to sponsor health workers as documented in a recent briefing from the Breastfeeding Protection Network of India (BPNI). Nestlé planned to sponsor a presentation on liver disease at Ranchi in a three star hotel on 6 April 2006. The Indian Academy of Pediatrics took a strong view that the sponsorship was illegal. The local branch and guest speaker decided to go ahead without Nestlé and the event was sponsored by the hospital.
With less access to professional associations, Nestlé is running its own series of 'Scientific Symposium' - see invitation right.
Despite the clarity of the law, Nestlé claims this is not an infringement. |
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Nestlé knows the value of close links with health workers and tries to ingratiate itself while they are still in college. For example, in March 2006 it sponsored a music night for medical graduates at BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur. Such an event is surely covered by the 'contribution or pecuniary benefit' provision.
These contacts are important for the company because they provide a route for companies to reach mothers. Health workers may display company materials and be more inclined to recommend company products. Company representatives can also use their relationship with health workers to gain access to medical establishments.
However, in India many health workers are working to uphold the law. On 18 March 2006 a doctor seized leaflets being distributed by a Nestlé representative at an immunization clinic. The leaflets promoted Lactogen infant formula and Cerelac complementary foods and were being given to parents. Such promotion is prohibited.
BPNI's briefing includes images of offending items and letters of substantiation.
Click here to download BPNI's briefing paper. |
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Pursuing Nestlé through the courts takes a great deal of time. It is still contesting a legal action that began in 1995 over its failure to translate and put required warnings on infant formula labels. You can help to uphold the law by writing to the man responsible, Nestlé's Chief Executive Officer, who claims to investigate any hint of a violation.
Suggested letter: Peter Brabeck-Letmathé, Chief Executive, Nestlé S.A. Avenue Nestlé 55, Vevey 1800, Switzerland. Fax: +41 21 924 4800. You
can select the text below and copy and
paste it into a word-processor or into the comment
page on the Nestlé site. Note Nestlé keeps
changing the address of the comment page. If the link
to it is dead go via http://www.nestle.com/.
As you know World Health Assembly Resolution 58.32 calls for care: "to ensure that financial support and other incentives for programmes and health professionals working in infant and young-child health do not create conflicts of interest."
One of the countries to act on this requirement is India, where the Infant Milk Substitutes Act prohibits: "any contribution or pecuniary benefit to a health worker or any association of health workers, including funding of seminar, meeting, conferences, educational course, contest, fellowship, research work or sponsorship."
However it is reported that Nestlé is sponsoring and attempting to sponsor such events in India.
In addition it is reported that leaflets for Lactogen infant formula have been distributed direct to parents. As you know seeking direct contact with mothers and producing and distributing promotional literature is prohibited.
I request that you respect the World Health Assembly measures and the Indian Law and change your policies and practices immediately. |
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can be a Code Monitor. |
