Baby Milk Action’s members are essential for the continued operation of the organisation and for its democratic accountability. Click here to join. The members’ AGM will take place via ZOOM on Friday, 29th October 2021. The papers for the meeting…
Body Shop removed from Nestle boycott product list
The Body Shop is no longer connected to Nestlé as it has been sold by L’Oreal (part-owned by Nestlé) to Brazilian company Natura. We’re proud of everything that we achieved alongside L’Oréal. Now we are about to start an exciting…
IBFAN Calendar 2018
See all 12 pictures and order in the Calendar section of our Virtual Shop. Please give your views on the pictures and calendar here. If you have images you would like to be considered for a future calendar, please contact us.
Government response to concerns over misleading Aptamil promotion at the Natural History Museum
We were contacted last month by people concerned that the Natural History Museum was hosting an event promoting the Aptamil brand of formula. We have now received a response from the government department responsible for the Museum. The event involved…
Natural History Museum criticised for hosting promotion of unnecessary follow-on formula in tie-in with Danone (Aptamil) and Time Out London
Baby Milk Action press release 25 July 2017 The Natural History Museum is hosting an event on 25 July 2017 promoting Danone’s Aptamil follow-on formula to parents. The museum is facing criticism for undermining advice from NHS Choices to parents, which…
Medela marketing and conflicts of interest
Baby Milk Action’s Look What They’re Doing in the UK monitoring report profiles the major baby feeding product companies and retailers. I have just added the profile for Medela. This is a breast pump company, which also promotes its Calma feeding bottle…
UNILEVER Dove campaign shows its commitment to breastfeeding is empty words
Update 11 July 2017: Unilever has withdrawn its advertising campaign, according to campaignlive.com. Thank you to everyone who contacted the company. (Unilever has so far only sent Baby Milk Action a standard email defending the campaign – let us know…
Ask you MP to attend the APPG on Infant Feeding & Inequalities
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Infant Feeding & Inequalities works to bring together Members of Parliament (MP) to work together to improve infant feeding policies. Following the election in June 2017, it is necessary to reconvene the APPG –…
Julie Crawford Award 2017: Bernadette Wood
Protecting breastfeeding from commercial in influence BFLG press release 28 June 2017 (National Breastfeeding Celebration Week in England began on 26th June) The Julie Crawford Award for Breastfeeding Support for 2017 has been won by Bernadette (Bernie) Wood, a Health…
Bernadette Wood acceptance speech for Julie Crawford Award 2017
The Julie Crawford Award for Breastfeeding Support for 2017 has been won by Bernadette (Bernie) Wood, a Health Visitor from Suffolk County Council’s Children’s and Young Peoples Services. She was presented the Award today on behalf of the Baby Feeding…
Poet Hollie McNish is Baby Milk Action’s new Patron
Press release – 28 June 2017 (National Breastfeeding Celebration Week in England began on 26th June) Baby Milk Action is delighted to announce that poet Hollie McNish has agreed to become a patron of the not-for-profit organisation, which campaigns to…
Body Shop to be sold by L’Oreal – growth disappointing after being added to Nestle boycott list
“Anita sells out” – that was the front-page headline of the Independent newspaper when Dame Anita Roddick sold Body Shop to L’Oreal in March 2006. Aside from the concerns over L’Oreal’s record on animal testing and other ethical issues, the cosmetic…
Mike Brady is running the English Half Marathon for Baby Milk Action
I am running the English Half Marathon on 17 September 2017 for Baby Milk Action. To sponsor me, click on the donate button to go to our secure payment system hosted by Romancart. I am funding myself to take part in the run.…
Response from Minbie to Look What They’re Doing in the UK 2017
Baby Milk Action sent its company profile on Minbie to the company for its response. The profile shows how the company encourages mothers to introduce feeding bottles with its teats from day one, claiming that this “nurtures a proper breastfeeding latch”. Asked…
Codex follow-on formula standard
Consultation on the Codex revision of the Follow-up Formula Standard. Deadline 7th April. IBFAN’s submission on scope and labelling relating to the revision of the Follow-up Formulas Standard is HERE IACFO’s submission on scope and labelling relating to the revision of the Follow-up Formulas Standard…
Action in the UK Parliament – and during the General Election campaign
Click here for our Update newsletters. Baby Milk Action supporters were amongst those encouraging their Members of Parliament to support the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Infant Feeding and Inequalities, which was formed on 19 January 2016. Following the announcement of…
Monitoring prompts changes to advertising and promotion of baby feeding products
Baby Milk Action’s monitoring report shows how formula, feeding bottle and teat companies and retailers market their products. The number of profiles continues to grow as we document the practices of more companies. Click here for the report. Exposing company practices is…
NUK to drop false “clinically proven” claim plus Managing Director responds to monitoring report
Baby Milk Action has published a profile of NUK bottles and teats in its Look What They’re Doing in the UK 2017 monitoring report. This has led to misleading claims being exposed and a requirement they are not used in…
Intervention by IBFAN-GIFA at Nestle shareholder meeting 2017
Mr. Chief Executive Officer, My name is Camille Selleger and I speak on behalf of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), recognized as an essential partner by WHO, UNICEF and the UN. In this venue, many people already know…
New Nestlé management asked to change direction on baby milk marketing at shareholder meeting 2017
Baby Milk Action press release 6 April 2017 The Nestlé shareholder meeting on 6 April appointed a new board of directors under the Chairmanship of Paul Bulcke, formerly the Chief Executive Officer. Mark Schneider was appointed as new CEO in January 2017.…
So farewell, Mr Brabeck – change at the top of Nestle
The Nestlé shareholder meeting takes place on 6 April 2017, where a new Board of Directors will be elected. This sees the end of the era of Peter Brabeck-Letmathé, who became Chief Executive Officer in 1997 and continued in the role when…
Baby feeding products marketing Bill to be debated in Parliament as monitoring report shows how companies mislead parents
Press release 24 March 2017 UPDATE: The Bill was not debated due to an over-packed Parliamentary agenda and lack of time. Alison Thewliss MP has instead announced an inquiry into Infant Feeding Services. This has now been suspended until after…
Response from Kendal Nutricare to Look What They’re Doing in the UK – 2017
Baby Milk Action monitors the baby feeding industry against international and UK marketing standards and campaigns for companies to bring their practices into line. We received complaints about marketing of Kendamil infant formula at events in the Lake District, where…
Why parents who use formula need better marketing regulations
Baby Milk Action’s new monitoring report profiling the major UK formula, bottle and teat companies and retailers provides evidence of how families are being misled. Here are some reasons why better regulations are necessary to protect parents who use formula. Click here…
Parliamentary debate on protecting families from misleading baby milk marketing – contact your MP
UPDATE: The Bill described below was not debated due to an over-packed Parliamentary agenda and lack of time. Alison Thewliss MP has instead announced an inquiry into Infant Feeding Services. Baby Milk Action will submit evidence from our monitoring and other…
Help Baby Milk Action monitor formula companies in the UK to end misleading marketing
Baby Milk Action receives many examples of misleading marketing by the formula companies. We are grateful to everyone who sends these too us. We apologise for when we are slow to acknowledge them. Please do continue sending us examples of promotion in retail…
Nestle promoting sugar drink through link with Barcelona FC
Nestlé has today (21 November 2016) announced a four-year deal with Barcelona Football Club to promote Milo processed food (which is nearly 50% sugar). Oh, sorry, Nestlé says it is a deal to “promote healthier lives“. According to Nestlé’s announcement:…
UK governments can do more to support mothers who want to breastfeed for longer
WBTi report launch, Westminster, 15 November 2015, 19:30 World Breastfeeding Trends initiative report shows how UK governments can help empower mothers to breastfeed for as long as they wish – Report scores countries on action taken to date Media coverage: Daily…
Tesco, car parking vouchers and the anti-regulation agenda
The media has picked up on a story of a mother who was refused a car parking voucher when she visited a Tesco store because she had bought only infant formula and not a qualifying product. The reporting of it raises much wider issues…
Nestle targeting health workers in breach of Indian IMS Act
It is Nestlé-Free Week from 28 October – 4 November 2016, a time for people who boycott Nestlé over the way it pushes baby milk to do more to promote the boycott – and for those who don’t boycott to give…
Free wills month and Baby Milk Action
There is a campaign in October encouraging people to make or update their will. Various solicitors have joined with leading charities to encourage people to think of leaving a legacy. Baby Milk Action can receive legacies, but we cannot participate in…
Formula for a pound – Baby Milk Action investigates
Baby Milk Action welcomes reports from the public of marketing practices for formula, feeding bottles and teats that they think might break marketing rules. Your donations and membership fees help us to act on these reports. Recently we have been asked about…
IBFAN Breastfeeding Calendar 2017
See all 12 pictures and order in the Calendar section of our Virtual Shop. Please give your views on the pictures and calendar here. If you have images you would like to be considered for a future calendar, please contact us.
Nestle wining, dining health workers to gain formula endorsements
Would you trust your health worker to give you accurate information on feeding your child if you knew they had been wined and dined on an international three-day trip hosted by a formula company? A trip where more time is spent being a…
UK Monitoring Report 2016
Click here to download our UK Monitoring Report, August 2016 (PDF), updated following the vote for the UK to leave the European Union. The first version of this UK Monitoring Report was prepared for the UN Committee on the Rights…
Formula promotion in breach of regulations increases in the UK while Trading Standards Institute highlights cuts to consumer protection
Baby Milk Action press release 16 August 2016 Baby Milk Action is receiving many more reports of retailers in the UK promoting infant formula in breach of formula marketing regulations as Nestlé and Danone step up their competition. This comes as a…
End-of-aisle displays, the International Code and the UK law
Baby Milk Action has been asked to clarify whether end-of-aisle displays of infant formula and other breastmilk substitutes break the UK law and/or international marketing standards. The use of such displays appears to have become commonplace in supermarkets in recent…
The role of infant formula companies in World Breastfeeding Week – what they should do and what they actually do
The correct role of infant formula companies during World Breastfeeding Week is the same as at any other time of the year: to sell their infant formula in accordance with international marketing standards – and nothing else. They should not be targeting pregnant…
It is World Breastfeeding Week – what you can do to promote it and stop formula companies hijacking it
It is World Breastfeeding Week, promoted by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). In the UK, you can sign a Call to Action to change the conversation around breastfeeding on the UNICEF UK website. Also see the joint statement…
England, NI and Wales: Improvement Notices introduced today to enforce EU formula and baby food marketing rules – companies face criminal charges for non compliance
Baby Milk Action press release 20 July 2016 The UK Government and devolved authorities have today introduced Statutory Instruments updating formula and baby food marketing laws in line with new EU regulations. Although the Regulations fall far short of international minimum standards repeatedly…
Remembering the baby killer booklet and Nestle libel trial
BBC World Service archive on the the Baby Killer – broadcast 12 July 2016 Nestlé is the target of a boycott over its aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes around the world. Monitoring conducted by the International Baby Food Action Network…
Open letter to JACEI Chair – bringing Nestle into FTSE4Good has been harmful to infant health
Baby Milk Action wrote to the Chair of the Methodist Church Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics in Investment (JACEI) on 6 August 2015 regarding the JACEI report on the Church’s £1 million investment in Nestlé. The JACEI report showed that engagement…
Holding Nestle to account
Nestlé Chairman confirms formula marketing violations are Nestlé policy Baby Milk Action attends Nestlé shareholder meetings, in recent years alongside partners from IBFAN-GIFA. We raise ongoing violations of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant Resolutions…
Brexit and what it means for our work protecting infant and young child health
Click here to download this briefing as a pdf file. The UK has now voted in the referendum on its membership of the European Union (EU). There are pros and cons to any decision and one so momentous for the…
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child calls on UK government to better support breastfeeding and regulate the formula industry
Baby Milk Action press release 10 June 2016 Update 14 July 2016: Recommendations from the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights added The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has issued its concluding observations on the UK…
Breastfeeding Solidarity March – Gaborone, Botswana, 10 June
An alliance of organisations in Botswana is campaigning to raise public awareness on the importance of breastfeeding in saving lives and supporting development outcomes. They are holding a Breastfeeding Solidarity March in Gaborone on 10 June, starting at 8:30 (announcement…
Mothers need support not pressure – Baby Milk Action presentation to MPs
Click here to share this information using our new format for social media, smartphones and tablets (also works on computers). Baby Milk Action’s presentation to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Infant Feeding and Inequalities – 17 May 2016…
Members of Parliament to hear how to protect mothers and babies from aggressive baby milk marketing as UK is assessed as failing to protect their rights
Baby Milk Action presentation in Parliament 17 May 2016 – 9:30 am Update: Click here to watch the presentation. (Follow on Twitter #APPGIFI – tweet you MP to ask if they are attending – MP contact details) Baby Milk Action will present…
IBFAN-GIFA asks Mr Brabeck to change formula marketing practices given its claimed support for breastfeeding to two years and beyond
The following is the text of the intervention Rebecca Norton of IBFAN-GIFA gave at the Nestlé shareholder meeting on 7 April 2016. Click here for the text in French – pdf. This is followed by the response from Nestlé Chairman, Peter…
Baby Milk Action asks Mr Brabeck to change Nestle baby milk marketing – and shareholders to remember the babies who have died
The following is the text of the intervention Mike Brady, Baby Milk Action’s Campaigns and Networking Coordinator, gave at the Nestlé shareholder meeting on 7 April 2016. This is as given and is followed by the response from Nestlé Chairman…