The tables below give details of some recent violations. The date when the violation was last reported to Baby Milk Action or confirmed to be current is given. The violation reference is for Baby Milk Action's records. Please quote it if forwarding correspondence to us, if possible.

• Abbott uses cereal range to promote infant formula in the Middle East
• Nestlé fined for breaking Costa Rica baby milk marketing law
  
• Nestlé formula promotion through gift to Brazilian paediatricians

Abbott uses cereal range to promote infant formula in the Middle East

Company	Item	Date	Violation Reference
Abbott Ross	Promotional materials and advertisements for Abbott Extra	December 1999	comp/00/07

Abbott produces an infant formula called Similac Advance. In the Middle East it has recently launched a range of cereals with the brand name Abbott Extra which are prominently labelled "with Similac Advance System." The promotional pamphlet shown here states: "The Similac Advance System - Optimum nutrition for optimum visual, mental and psychomotor development." There is no text stating the superiority of breastfeeding over Similac Advance breastmilk substitutes. The promotion includes advertisements on television which similarly promote Similac Advance. It is also a concern that the cereals are labelled for use from 4-5 months of age, whereas exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for about the first 6 months.

Mr. Duane L. Burnham, CEO, Abbott Laboratories, 1 Abbott Park Road, IL 60064-3500, USA (Fax: +1 847 938 1342):

It is reported that Abbott is promoting its Similac Advance brand name through television advertisements for Abbott Extra cereals in the Middle East. Similac Advance is a brand name for Abbott infant formula and other breastmilk substitutes. Promoting this brand name is banned by Article 5.1 of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. Please remove all references to Similac Advance from the marketing materials used for Abbott Extra and from the labels of Abbott Extra.

Resolution 49.15 adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1996 requires that "complementary foods are not marketed for or used in ways that undermine exclusive and sustained breastfeeding." Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for about the first six months of life, yet Abbott Extra is labelled for use before this age. Please change the labels to bring them into line with the World Health Assembly's requirements.

Nestlé fined for breaking Costa Rica baby milk marketing law

Nestlé was fined in Costa Rica at the end of 1999 for breaking laws relating to the labelling of breastmilk substitutes. When the government implemented the Code and Resolutions in legislation in 1994 companies were given one year to bring their labels into line. Nestlé was repeatedly warned after this that its labels did not comply. At one stage, in August 1996, Nestlé did present labels which satisfied the Ministry of Health and Economy, but these were not placed on the market. Instead Nestlé continued using labels which had been rejected. In September 1999, legal action was taken and Nestlé has been fined.

Suggested points for letters to the man responsible: Mr. Peter Brabeck, Nestlé S.A. 55, Av. Nestlé. CH-1800 Vevey, Switzerland (Fax: +41 21 921 1885):

It is reported that Nestlé has recently been fined in Costa Rica for failing to comply with the 1994 law implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. You claim that Nestlé conducts internal audits of its baby food marketing activities and that you personally review any hint of wrong-doing. Has an audit of Nestlé Costa Rica ever been conducted? If so, why has your system so clearly failed in this case and why didn't Nestlé act on the government's repeated requests to correct its practices?

Nestlé formula promotion through gift to Brazilian paediatricians

Company	Item	Date	Violation Reference
Nestlé	Gift to healthworkers	1999	comp/00/09

In Brazil Nestlé has been distributing the pharmacological guide shown here to paediatricians. Every page bears the text Nestlé - Nutricao Infantil, promoting the company name to health workers and patients. The International Code does allow company names to appear on donations of materials given to health professionals, if this is allowed by the government regulations. However, Article 6.8 states such materials "should not refer to any proprietary product within the scope of this Code." Nestlé violates this provision by promoting Nestlé infant formulas on the flaps used for page markers, as shown below. Patients are likely to see this advertisement and its idealising text, which says "A relationship of confidence" when a paediatrician refers to the book. The advertisement has no information on the superiority of breastfeeding. Nestlé has included this text on a separate page where a patient is unlikely to see it.

 

 

Suggested points for letters to the man responsible: Mr. Peter Brabeck, Nestlé S.A. 55, Av. Nestlé. CH-1800 Vevey, Switzerland (Fax: +41 21 921 1885):

Nestlé has distributed a guide entitled "Medicamentos Habitualmente Usados em Pediatria" to doctors in Brazil. This includes advertisements for Nestlé infant formulas and other breastmilk substitutes in violation of Article 6.8 of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. You have claimed that Nestlé audits its baby food marketing activities and that you personally review any hint of a violation. Has there ever been an audit of Nestlé Brazil and, if so, why are you allowing this violation to take place? Please ensure that all materials produced by Nestlé in future conform to the relevant Resolutions of the World Health Assembly and national regulations.

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