Article for anyone interested:
"Enjoy a Nestlé-free Christmas
The NCT will be continuing to support the boycott of Nestlé products this Christmas ? why not join us?
The boycott of Nestlé products started in 1977 due to disapproval of the unethical and dangerous marketing practices used by Nestlé in countries around the world. It is important to note that this is a separate issue to the use of formula in general: the NCT believes that parents should be encouraged to make feeding choices that are right for them and their baby (NCT Baby Feeding Policy).
The issues
In developing countries, babies who are not breastfed are 10 times more likely to die in their first six months than a breastfed child. Below are just a few of the concerns that charities, governments and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have raised:
? Advertising and promotion: Nestlé and other formula manufacturers create a glamorous impression of formula milk as an aspirational product, playing on ideas that it is more modern or developed than breastmilk. A prominent tactic in the past has been to give away free samples for long enough for the mother's own milk to dry up or donate heavily branded items to clinics worldwide, but especially in developing countries, in order to appear to be associated with medicine and health.
? Due to the cost of formula milk, parents in developing countries are often unable to use the required amount as it can cost up to a quarter of the household's income to buy formula, resulting in inadequate nutrition.
? Poor water quality in developing countries has been cited as a causal factor in the deaths of many babies fed on formula. This is coupled with the problems surrounding language and labelling because the instructions for properly sterilising the water and equipment may not be in the parent's native language. If you can't read the instructions, you risk making the product using the wrong quantities.
? A study by the medical journal the Lancet estimated that 13% of child deaths could be prevented by breastfeeding. It is recognised that irresponsible marketing of infant formula milk is a large contributory factor in normalising bottle feeding and the improper use of formula milk.
The Code
In 1981, the WHO agreed the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (?the Code?), a policy to protect and promote breastfeeding. Governments are asked to bring the Code into law in their own countries, but the Code also calls on formula manufacturers to implement its provisions directly.
The Code exists to protect breastfeeding and to ensure breastmilk substitutes are used safely where they are necessary. It doesn?t stop formula products being sold ? it aims for mothers to receive information and make decisions without pressure from companies who want to sell more products. Nestlé, the largest baby food company in the world, has consistently broken the Code, as well as lobbying against the introduction of the Code in national legislation in many developing countries, hence the boycott.
The boycott
The boycott is supported by many organisations, from church groups, charities and wholefood shops to trade unions, local authorities and almost all students' unions. You won?t find Nestlé products at NCT events such as our Bumps and Babies groups or as raffle prizes and we don't use Nescafé coffee, buy Nestlé branded chocolate or water. If you want to support the boycott, you could do so just for the Christmas period or make a conscious effort to cut down on buying Nestlé products if you don?t want to stop buying them completely. The list of Nestlé owned brands is extensive and includes many brands that are not explicitly marketed with the Nestlé logo; you can find a list on Baby Milk Action?s website.
Campaigning for implementation of the WHO Code and support for the boycott is part of NCT?s goal of supporting all parents in their decisions about feeding. We want all parents to have good quality, unbiased and evidence-based information, free from commercial influences."