Email update: 23 March 2015
Diary date: 18 April: Baby Milk Action member's AGM - Cambridge
Election UK 2015
Voters in the UK go to the polls on 7 May to elect a new government.
Baby Milk Action contacted all political parties represented in parliament at the end of January/beginning of February to ask them about their policies on infant and young child feeding.
The responses have been coming in.
Find out which party said it 'will support in full the implementation of the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and the subsequent WHA resolutions'.
Find out who has pledged to reinstate the National Infant Feeding survey.
Visit our Election UK 2015 page at:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/election-uk-2015
Some parties have still not responded. You can help us get answers.
We contacted their party HQs and health and public health spokespeople, where these details were available.
Now we have launched a Twitter campaign asking those parties who have ignored us so far to respond. Go to our Twitter page and re-tweet our tweets calling for answers so they know this is important to you:
https://twitter.com/babymilkaction
We will continue to highlight these issues during the election campaign so the public know where the parties stand. Help us by making a donation:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/donate
There will be significant developments during the next Parliament, as mentioned below.
IBFAN comments on proposed EU regulations
The next UK government will come to power as the European Union finalises new regulations for the marketing of formulas and baby foods.
The current draft regulations fall far short of the minimum standards adopted by the World Health Assembly.
IBFAN believes that adoption of these proposals unchanged will undermine child rights and child health. We have already briefed the Commission on the failings with the current regulations that have not been addressed in the new version. Find our briefing paper and detailed analysis at:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/archives/3000
We will continue to make the case for implementing the minimum marketing standards in the UK, Europe and around the world. Help us by making a donation:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/donate
Tesco's ongoing illegal marketing practices expose Trading Standards failings
We continue to receive evidence that Nestlé's SMA infant formula is being promoted in Tesco supermarkets in breach of the UK law.
Tesco told us it gave instructions for managers to remove the promotions on 8 January and explained to Trading Standards the steps it was taking. Clearly these have been insufficient.
We are pursuing the case with Trading Standards - and attempting to persuade the relevant offices to take action.
At the very least, this will be a case study for the next government to see that the enforcement system is not working. We have also submitted evidence to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The Committee's 2008 report on the UK called on the Government to implement the World Health Assembly marketing requirements. It said, 'The
Committee is concerned that
implementation continues to be
inadequate and that aggressive
promotion of breastmilk substitutes
remains common.'
That continues to be the case, so please keep monitoring and let us know what you find.
See our monitoring page at:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/monitoring-uk
We take up as many cases of aggressive marketing as we can and work for more effective enforcement systems. Help us by making a donation:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/donate
Have a Nestlé-Free Easter - image competition, plus protests over Nestlé's bottled water operation in California
Have a Nestlé-Free Easter. Help us to promote this message by sending us your images explaining why you won't be buying Nestlé Easter eggs. We'll use those we like best to spread the word - online and off.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news - including the current public protests in California over Nestlé's bottled water operation. Baby Milk Action focuses on Nestlé's baby food marketing, but we do what we can to highlight other concerns brought to our attention.
Help us by making a donation:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/donate
return to top  |
