Copied from the Nestle site, statement from the Nestle CEO which mentions "milk nurses" and how they deal with reported WHO code violations:
The Nestlé Company began when Henri Nestlé invented a milk and cereal food that saved the life of a neighbour?s baby who could not be breastfed. Today, infant formula makes up about 2% of Nestlé?s sales but, for about the first 40 years of the company?s life, it was our principal product. It is still a product that saves the lives of untold numbers of babies around the world every day.
It became apparent in the 1970s that infant formula ( often referred to as ?babymilk? ) is a product that deserves special treatment in terms of marketing in situations where sanitary conditions could result in its misuse. The concern arose at the time that advertising or promotion of infant formula to the public could lead to unsafe use by women who did not have access to clean water and who over-diluted the formula in an effort to save money. As access to communications became more widespread among populations in developing countries, it became clear that the promotion of infant formula to the public was reaching such mothers, and that such promotion should be stopped.
As a result, Nestlé stopped advertising and promotion to the public in these countries in the late 1970s, and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, drafted by the World Health Organisation, was passed as a complete set of recommendations to governments in 1981. It lists the responsibilities of health care systems, health care professionals and companies in regard to the promotion of breast-milk substitutes and the provision of information concerning its proper use.
Having learned the lessons of the 1970s, Nestlé was the first company to voluntarily implement the Code throughout the developing world in 1982, and we developed specific instructions to our staff on how to do this. These instructions were reviewed and refined in 1984 in consultation with the WHO and other UN agencies.
Our policy and practice in developing countries since that time has meant no public promotion, including no advertising, no in-store promotions, no advertising leaflets, no ?milk nurses?, no samples to mothers, and a very restrictive policy on free formula for evaluation by health professionals. We leave communication to mothers about infant formula in developing countries completely up to health professionals. In developed countries, we follow national regulations implementing the International Code, including the EU Commission Directive of May 1991, which implemented the Code within the EU.
We also carry out annual audits on WHO Code compliance with a sample of Nestlé companies, and we investigate any substantiated claims made by those who believe we have broken the Code.
Many of these we find to be inaccurate but, in a company of over 225,000 individuals, mistakes can be made. If we find that the Code has been deliberately violated, we take disciplinary action.
As CEO, I personally review any reports of Code violation discovered either in our audits in the developing world or through reports from other organisations, and I make sure the appropriate action is taken.
I hope this document provides a deeper understanding of the realities of infant feeding in the developing world and of Nestlé?s marketing activities.