Nestlé Scientist's False Claims Exposed by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) 3 February 2006 Click here for a press release from our partners in Canada For three consecutive nights this week, Canadian TV has been featuring an exposé of Canadian scientist, Dr Ranjit Chandra, whose falsified research was used by Nestlé to promote its infant formulas.  Dr Chandra has now fled from Canada to Switzerland.   In the late 1980s, Nestlé launched an infant formula that the company claimed could "reduce your child's risk of developing allergies." Since that time, INFACT Canada, supported by Baby Milk Action and other IBFAN groups, has questioned the validity of the research by Dr. Chandra, who Nestlé paid to conduct studies to justify its claims. Much of Dr Chandra’s work has now come under intense scrutiny for academic fraud and at least one of his studies has been completely discredited. According to the CBC documentary, it now appears that the Nestlé study was never even conducted and Chandra could not produce the raw data when challenged. Over the past two decades, Nestlé has successfully created a market for millions of tins of formula, and EU legislation has been altered, the whole basison the basis on this evidently falsified science. As a consequence, parents the world over have been duped into exposing their children to the risks of formula feeding. Repeated studies (see http://www.infactcanada.ca/Fourteen Risks of Formula Feeding.pdf) have shown that artificial feeding actually increases the risk of allergies. Given the company's widely documented disregard for infant health, it remains to be seen if Nestlé will now apologise and retract its bogus claims and cease its aggressive promotion of these products and the misleading use of the term “Hypoallergenic”. In July 2004 Baby Milk Action reported Nestlé to the Advertising Standards Authority because of its misleading and aggressive marketing of hypoallergenic formulas in the UK: http://archive.babymilkaction.org/press/press28july04.html The ASA refused to investigate on the grounds that the publishers and health workers should be able to judge whether claims were correct or not. Nestlé referenced Chandra in claiming: "Nan HA significantly reduces the potential for atopic symptoms (eczema, asthma, rhinitis) in infants with a strong family history of allergy" and "Nan HA is palatable and affordable". In a brochure distributed to the public on a Nestlé stand at an Allergy UK event, Nestlé references Chandra in claiming: "Significantly Reduces the Risk of Allergies. Nan HA 1: the partially hydrolysed infant formula from Nestlé with proven efficacy in the reduction of allergic reactions when used exclusively." [stress as in the original]. Click here for a hi-resolution image. and: "Nan HA 1: the cost effective way to reduce the incidence of allergies." Click here for a hi-resolution image. For the text and video clips of the programmes broadcast on Jan 31st and tonight (Feb 1) follow these leads: http://www.cbc.ca/national/news/chandra/ http://www.cbc.ca/national/news/chandra/part2.html Video clips are available for Part 1, and Part 2 at their respective links: Part 1 http://www.cbc.ca/national/news/chandra/index.html Part 2 http://www.cbc.ca/national/news/chandra/part2.html Part 3 http://www.cbc.ca/clips/ram-newsworld/chandra_3.ram Meanwhile trials of these formulas are going on in many UK hospitals and the EU Commission is about to give permanent authorisation for formulas based on whey protein partial hydrolysates – provided they receive a positive opinion from the European Food Standards Authority, (EFSA) In the spring of 2000, Chandra had submitted a study to British Medical Journal. about the effects of his own patented multivitamin on the memories of seniors. When Editor-in-chief, Richard Smith, asked a statistician to look at it he was told that : ‘This has all the hallmarks of having been completely invented.' The BMJ rejected Dr. Chandra's study and asked Memorial to investigate.