The New version of the proposals HERE Below are PDFs of letters to the European Commissioners We have asked the Secretary General of the Commission to ensure that the views of all the relevant DGs are taken into account, not…
Tributes to Sheila Kitzinger, Baby Milk Action Advisor
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/apr/12/sheila-kitzinger Everyone at Baby Milk Action was sad news to hear the news that one of our advisors, Sheila Kitzinger, died on Saturday 11th April, aged 86. Sheila was an author, anthropologist and strong advocate of breastfeeding,…
MEPs call for a rethink on the new Baby milk laws
MEPs call for a rethink on the new EU laws on formulas and baby foods Member States Experts meeting, Brussels 20th April CLICK here for background papers Along with health advocates around the world we have decried new rules on baby formulas…
A list of resources on the G7/8 New Alliance
Thanks to Jean Blaylock, Coordinator of the UK Food Group for sharing this list of resources on the G7/8 New Alliance that has been compiled by civil society groups in Africa and G8 countries: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ic7MJbh-Af4mIT0avk1NN0sVJMyb5CQ8PBcJPkF1OQ8/edit?usp=sharing This includes reports/briefings/case studies, civil society public…
Gates Foundation and clarification on IBFAN funding policy
Below are some media and research articles about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) along with a Clarification of IBFAN’s funding policy. Don’t reduce the global poor to potential consumers By treating health care as a commodity, Gates…
Breastfeeding as a water conservation strategy?
As we struggle to persuade the EU Commission to made the much needed changes in the new regulations covering the marketing of baby foods and formulas, we are told that the only real opportunity for new laws is in the…
some interesting media stories
Nestle, PepsiCo and others ‘use public funds to develop harmful snacks’ Obesity charities say Innovate UK should not be paying multinationals to invent an energy-efficient chocolate machine or a new way to dry potatoes CLICK HERE http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/14/nestle-pepsico-and-others-use-public-funds-to-develop-harmful-snacks _________________ The Guardian Brazilian…
New WHO consultations
1 WHO Framework of engagement with non-State actors CLICK HERE for the background information http://www.who.int/about/who_reform/non-state-actors/en/ Textual proposals submitted by Member States on the draft overarching framework of engagement with non-State actors and the four specific policies contained in the Annex of document…
International Women’s Day – where are the women?
In a few hours, Nestlé whistleblower Syed Aamir Raza, Mike Brady and I will join IBFAN friends in Italy – where Tigers will be shown in the oldest cinema in Florence to celebrate International Women’s Day . (1) Its been a busy…
new proposals for EU Regulations on Formulas and baby foods
IBFAN BFLG comment 27.2.15.2 IBFAN and the Baby Feeding Law Group is mounting a campaign to change some new Commission Proposals for revised regulations on formulas and baby foods. 4 Working Documents are being discussed this week in Brussels. IBFAN believes…
WHO EB meeting tackles Conflicts of Interest
CLICK HERE for an Italian article in Il Manifesto, Tanto zucchero please, siamo italiani about the controversy surrounding WHO’s Sugar Guidelines and the Conflicts of Interest on the Italian Delegation. Tanto zucchero please, siamo italiani CLICK HERE for a new BMJ…
WHO warned of risks of commercial exploitation of Ebola
WHO warned of risks of commercial exploitation of Ebola WHO Special session on Ebola, 25th January 2015, Geneva At today’s special session on Ebola, IBFAN, together with Public Services International (PSI) and Health Innovation in Practice (HIP) called on WHO to prevent…
Nestlé’s Wyeth promotes the BabyNes machine in Asia
Look what Nestle is doing in Asia – Wyeth must has been assigned the task of promoting BabyNes to the rich in Asia. http://youtu.be/yzND0BBTSDk See Press Release article about this machine http://info.babymilkaction.org/pressrelease/pressrelease28sep11
Formula feeding is the formula for disaster for the environment, say experts!
Series – 9 , December 2014 Formula feeding is the formula for disaster for the environment, say experts! BPNI / IBFAN Asia’s latest publication “Formula for Disaster: weighing the impact of formula feeding Vs breastfeeding on environment” is out now. The path breaking…
Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO)
IBFAN Statement on ECHO WHO Executive Board Meeting January 201 ECHO shortFINAL2 After representing IBFAN at the Civil Society Hearing of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO) on 14th October, we wrote this letter to explain our concerns about the…
New information on WHO Framework of engagement with non-state actors
The WHO Secretariat input for the upcoming WHO EB session is available now: · EB136/5 Framework of engagement with non-State actors · EB136/INF./2 Framework of engagement with non-State actors Information on regional committee debate
Santa Claus resigns
Here’s a Christmas message from our partners in Mexico Santa Claus resigns Dec 15, 2014 This year Santa Claus made a tough decision: since his kidnapping in 1931 by a beverage company, he is resigning from his captors. He refuses…
BMJ’s new Conflict of Interest Policy
CLICK HERE BMJ’s new Conflict of Interest Policy Editor’s Choice The milk debate, conflicts of interest, and our Christmas appeal Fiona Godlee, editor in chief, The BMJ fgodlee@bmj.com CLICK HERE ….Elsewhere we announce our new more stringent policy on financial conflicts of…
Thinking Forward: The Quicksand of Appeasing the Food Industry
PLoS Med. Jul 2012; 9(7): e1001254. Published online Jul 3, 2012. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001254 PMCID: PMC3389029 Thinking Forward: The Quicksand of Appeasing the Food Industry Kelly D. Brownell* Author information ► Copyright and License information ► This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. This article was…
Two new studies on breastfeeding rates
1Potential economic impacts from improving breastfeeding rates in the UK ▸ Additional material is published online only. To view please visit the journal online (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2014-306701). What this study adds: ▸ Use of breast milk substitutes is associated with a raised…
Stop TTIP – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
Free Public Event tonight. TTIP Take Back the Power flyer Baby Milk Action is working alongside the growing number of NGOs, Unions and citizens such as War on Want, Trade Justice Movement, WDM and 38 Degrees and 120 organizations from 18 different…
Nestlé water turned into cups at Milan Expo
Campaign Success: Nestlé water turned into cups at Milan Expo Today I received the response below to my letter from Ambassador Nicolas Bideau – explaining the changes that are being made to the Water Towers at Switzerland’s pavilion at the Expo…
Global Nutrition Report
I attended the launch of the Global Nutrition Report at the House of Commons on Tuesday 2nd December. I picked up on something said by lead author Lawrence Haddad about Maharashtra (see below) and the appropriate role for industry. I made a…
News from Codex in Bali
Codex Nutrition meeting in Bali. CLICK HERE for papers The IBFAN team is facing big challenges at the Codex meeting in Bali. The most important is perhaps the proposal for a revision of the Follow-up Formula (FUF) Standard. Many countries including India,…
Italy arrests doctors suspected of taking bribes to discourage breast feeding
STOP PRESS Following the exposure of the paediatricians arrested for bribery in Tuscany, (see below) the local Minister of Health yesterday signed a protocol with UNICEF for the promotion of BFH-BFC I and gave as a present to all the…
Nourishing – new policy database
Below is a message from Corinna Hawkes of the World Cancer Research Fund International about a new policy database called Nourishing Dear colleagues, As the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) approaches (19-21 November), we’re pleased to let you know that…
How does the Gates Foundation spend its money to feed the world?
New from GRAIN | 4 November 2014 How does the Gates Foundation spend its money to feed the world? Since the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation added “feeding the world” to its objectives almost a decade ago, it has channelled…
Transnational Misconduct Must End
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ricardo-patino/ecuador-ricardo-patino_b_6040920.html Transnational Misconduct Must End Ecuador has undergone a profound social, economic and political transformation over the past seven years, prioritizing the needs and rights of its citizens, in order to tackle a great moral challenge of the 21st…
All that glitters is not gold – The Truth about GE ‘Golden’ Rice
See the new Greenpeace expose. Velvet Here from IBFAN’s group in the Philippines, Arugaan, is interviewed (8.12m) You can also view the video using this link http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/agriculture/problem/genetic-engineering/Greenpeace-and-Golden-Rice/ or HERE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxSGKD50ioE The trailer can be viewed here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhOjpJqn-Ws The trailer has been…
Best Feeding – Wholesome Baby Food Recipes from Asian homes to complement breastfeeding
“Best Feeding – Wholesome Baby Food Recipes from Asian homes to complement breastfeeding”. was launched on 27th October’14 in Brunei at the 10th One Asia Breastfeeding Partners Forum . CLICK HERE to download it as a PDF This lovely book challenges the paradigm created…
Nestle India summoned for violating IMS Act
Nestle India summoned for violating IMS Act – Hindustan Times CLICK HERE http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/chandigarh/nestle-india-summoned-for-violating-ims-act/article1-1279876.aspx Sunday, November 02, 2014 HT Correspondent , Hindustan Times Rohtak, October 28, 2014 Nestle India summoned for violating IMS Act Chief judicial magistrate Lokesh Gupta, on Tuesday,…
Nestlé’s Gerber accused of false claims
WTOP ANNE FLAHERTY Associated Press 1st November 2014 CLICK here for the full story WASHINGTON (AP) — Baby-food maker Gerber [owned by Nestlé] is being accused by the government of claiming falsely that its Good Start Gentle formula…
Water and Food Security
Committee on World Food Security High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition Water and food security: zero-draft consultation paper Deadline 7th November CLICK HERE It will be important to have strong civil society input to this consultation so…
The new world food and nutrition order
Framework Conventions – are they a good idea? Some NGOs are proposing the idea of a Global Convention to Protect and Promote Healthy Diets. Although IBFAN totally supports the idea of legally binding controls and is strongly behind the Treaty Alliance for…
Civil society disappointed at Nutrition negotiations in Rome (2014)
STATEMENT BY CSO DELEGATION TO THE OPEN ENDED WORKING GROUP OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NUTRITION 2 DISAPPOINTING OUTCOMES OF NEGOTIATIONS ON NUTRITION Governments met in the FAO Headquarters in Rome from 10-12 October 2014 to finalize the Rome Political…
Nestle using food banks in Canada to push formula
Companies are very keen to be seen to be addressing inequalities – and what better way to do this than to support food banks, breakfast clubs and other philanthropic ventures – using them to promote their brands of junk foods…
Formula whistleblower battled Nestle for 17 years: Porter
Syed Aamir Raza Hussain of Mississaugha is a former Nestlé salesman whose efforts to stop the company from plying new mothers with formula resulted in TIFF film Tigers. CLICK HERE By: Catherine Porter Columnist, Published on Sat Oct 04 2014…
No more for Nespresso for George Clooney ?
20 Minutes – unofficial translation from an article in German that appeared in the Swiss Paper 20 Minutes. No more for Nespresso for George Clooney ? 3rd October 2014His wife should exert pressure on Clooney not to advertise for Nestlé anymore.…
WHO EU Regional Meeting: Conflicts of interest on the agenda
Important information on conflicts of Interest for upcoming WHO Regional Meetings: Copenhagen:15th- 18th September, I have posted these tweets: Why is the EU so keen on voluntary CSR and ‘multi-stakeholder’ approaches – when there is no evidence they work? WHO…
Breastfeeding linked to lower risk of postnatal depression
– See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/breastfeeding-linked-to-lower-risk-of-postnatal-depression#sthash.EqjUKDbd.dpuf
Infant feeding and Ebola Outbreak
Posted on behalf of Fabienne Rousseau, ACF I have a question related to infant feeding in the context of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Our teams are engaged in sensitisation and have concerns regarding breastfeeding counselling messages in the…
EFSA advice on infant and follow-on formulae
EFSA updates advice on infant and follow-on formulae 24 July 2014 Key findings: The Panel did not consider it necessary to propose specific compositional criteria for formulae consumed after one year of age, as formulae consumed during the first year…
Comment defending the Institute for Trade, Standards and Sustainable Development, Inc. (ITSSD)
Comment posted to my blog The comment given below was posted to my Blog, Stop TTIP – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership by someone calling themselves ‘Informed Counsel’ and giving their URL as http://www.itssd.org/. ITSSD is the Institute for Trade, Standards and…
Useful developments at the Codex Commission
REPORT OF THE SIXTY-NINTH SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland, 8 -11 July 2014 and 14-18 July 201 Full report here: ftp://ftp.fao.org/codex/reports/Reports_2014/Rep14_EXe.pdf Thanks to the IBFAN Codex team for spotting the many useful…
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)
Baby Milk Action’s readers will be aware of our concerns about the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) – both of which are part funded by the foundation set up by the software giant, Bill Gates. The…
New statement by the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
In its latest session, the Human Rights Council appointed Mr. Dainius Puras from Lithuania as the third Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. http://www.kractivist.org/new-special-rapporteur-to-health-appointed-by-the-human-rights-council/ — “The activities…
Have you signed this? If not, act now to safeguard the UN from Conflicts of Interest: July 10-11
Please ask health, human rights or development organisations to endorse the statement calling for effective safeguards against conflicts of interest. Large for-profit corporations and their front groups will be attending the Comprehensive Review and Assessment of the Progress achieved in the Prevention and Control…
NGO concerns about Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2)
19 November, 2014 Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Roma, Italy FAO Headquarters, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Roma, Italy CLICK HERE FOR NEW LETTER MTG 11 Julyfinal3 CLICK HERE for background Papers CLICK here for a letter sent from…
STOP Press New Human Rights treaty to be drafted
UN HRC vote-1 UN HRC vote and HERE Treaty Alliance Fantastic news This morning the Human Rights Council adopted the Ecuador resolution on the Elaboration of an international legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human…
EU Health Council highlights breastfeeding and misleading marketing
20th June 2014 The EU Health Council adopted some important Conclusions on Nutrition and Physical Activity on Friday. Because of its importance to the economy, the EU seems to have chosen to ‘persuade’ rather than ‘regulate’ the food industry.’ In our view this overlooks…