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Did anyone else see the piece in BBC news about follow on milk?

127 replies

differentID · 22/07/2009 18:50

here

It was hidden away at the bottom this morning and I thought it was very interesting. Lots of common sense in the ruling.

OP posts:
AnarchyAunt · 23/07/2009 11:55

I don't think breastmilk is 'lacking in iron' is it?

I understood it has 'less' than follow on but that this is not a problem because a) what there is is more bio-available and so is absorbed rather than excreted, and b) there is research to show that iron fortification makes no significant difference to health anyway ( here ) .

AnarchyAunt · 23/07/2009 11:57

@ the cow analogy SD.

Katz · 23/07/2009 11:59

orphan - if you're child/baby is having a balanced diet they shouldn't need extra vit/min/iron, is all a marketing con.

VulpusinaWilfsuit · 23/07/2009 11:59

Oooh! Ah! Yes!

I know about this, because I was one of about 10 people who complained about another bit of their advertising, which they said they couldn't rule on until this was resolved.

And got a letter from the ASA last week but not allowed to crow about mention it until press embargo released.

They didn't uphold the full complaint. Will have to fill in details when get back from work later...

ruddynorah · 23/07/2009 12:00

it's all a bit futile though isn't it. i mean this is what always happens. advert comes out. message is ingrained on the public. complaints roll in. ad is pulled, or tweaked a bit. message has still got through.

fwiw dh shouts 'immunomyarseitas' at the tv when aptimal comes on.

pseudoname · 23/07/2009 12:03

The form of Iron in all formula milks is poorly absorbed by the human gut. If only 3% of the iron in formula is absorbed, increasing the iron content by 10% or whatever it is, will not increase its absorption by the gut. It just means that the child is more likely to get constipated.

Hence, putting more iron in follow on is a scam. It just means more iron goes into the baby / toddler's poo.

ruddynorah · 23/07/2009 12:04

that big vat of milk advert is terribly misleading. it says in teeny tiny letters at the bottom something like 'oh but you can actually get iron from food by the way'

KingRolo · 23/07/2009 12:04

They don't care of they get their wrists slapped after the ad has been shown do they? They know the ones complaining are never going to be persuaded to buy the product anyway.

It is still worth complaining though - got to keep at them. I am a serial complainer. I complained to ofcom about Maria on Corrie not getting any bf support and she's a fictional character

VulpusinaWilfsuit · 23/07/2009 12:06

People REALLY should complain. I have to admit I was disappointed when after a BIG discussion about the 'does this baby look like he has...' blah blah blah on MN, the ASA confirmed that only a handful of people had actually written in about it and most of those were the NCT/Babymilk Action...

Please do whip off an email to them next time. There is a stronger moral case to answer the more people do it.

tiktok · 23/07/2009 12:16

OrphanAnnie, it's not a comfortable feeling to hear you have been marketed to, and been duped, sorry, but you have.

Most of the iron in follow on is not able to be absorbed by the baby (the main reason why constipation is such a common effect) so folow on having 'more iron' than cows milk is irrelevant. A toddler having the usual range of solids (and in your lucky babies' cases, breastmilk as well) will not go short of iron...and if he did, because he was not eating a range of solids, he can increase his repertoire of iron-containing foods.

Follow on is certainly not 'better' than cows milk for a toddler.

More expensive, yes.

In a prettier box, true.

Higher in iron? Yes, but irrelevant.

Breastmilk is not 'low' in iron. It has the iron in it that it's 'meant' to have. Toddlers can't thrive for long on breastfeeding alone and of course they have lots of other foods as well. These might include follow on, but the toddler diet is not 'better' for this.

OrphanAnnie · 23/07/2009 12:37

Ok fair enough, as long as it did no harm then I don't consider myself duped as they had to drink something and it was preferable to orange squash which was the other thing they'd try and have given a choice.

tiktok · 23/07/2009 12:50

Ok....so when you said 'better than cows milk' you didn't mean 'better than cows milk' you meant 'better than orange squash'?

I see.

Listen.

You were duped.

Not a crime.

That's why manufacturers pay good money to develop ads which give people a false message - in your case, you have understood a message that was not even stated, because follow on is targetted at 6-12 months so it's a bonus that mothers of older kids than this think it is 'better'.

Good work, admen

MrsTittleMouse · 23/07/2009 13:38

They had me suckered in for sure, as I can remember asking about iron at DD1's 8 month check. Luckily I had a well-informed and supportive HV who told me that the iron in breastmilk was very well absorbed, so I didn't need to be concerned. It was partly because I don't eat red meat (and therefore neither do my DDs) but I'm sure that the adverts planted a seed of worry there too.

I did end up using follow on formula milk in the end, but that had nothing to do with iron. I found that DD1 loved milk so much that it was difficult to get her to drink much water and it was so much easier to take water and formula milk powder out and about than to worry about keeping milk fresh and cold. There are so many convenient cartons of juice, but none of milk, I don't get it. Sadly breastfeeding had finished by a year as we never managed to solve the biting issue.

tiktok · 23/07/2009 13:48

Amazing....the ads don't even mention 'non-red-meat-eating-mums' but somehow you were still worried enough to think your dd was at risk if she didn't have follow on, MrsTM

Good point about convenience of milk powder.

MrsTittleMouse · 23/07/2009 13:54

I don't think that I thought that she needed follow-on. And I was too lazy and cheap to use formula when I was breastfeeding. Especially as it had taken a lot of determination to get that far. But I'm sure that's how the "older babies need iron" thing really took root.

wasabipeanut · 23/07/2009 13:56

"Immunofortis" has to be one of the most misleading marketing terms out there. It's up there with M&S Loch Muir and Oakham Farm food - they don't actually exist.

All bollocks. I think people are getting more savvy though.

Wonderstuff · 23/07/2009 14:08

Excellent news, ads should have been pulled long ago, 'immunofortis' ffs. I hate the 'I promise to do the night feeds' one, clearly trying to push benefits of ff for newborns. The SMA knows one with the bloke boiling a kettle GRR. I also hate the 'Do I look like' one with the giggling babies. All misleading bollocks. Ban the lot of them.

MrsTittleMouse · 23/07/2009 14:14

God, I am so stupid. It never occured to me that it is pushing the fact that if you breastfeed that you can't share the nightfeeds. That would really key into the concerns of the Dads too - I know that some men worry that if they can't feed the baby that they won't bond properly, and DH has suggested that we formula feed sometimes when I'm completely exhausted as a way of taking off some of the burden.

StealthPolarBear · 23/07/2009 14:45

I wondered whether I shoiuld be using formula in DS's porridge over normal cows milk when he was 6mo, as he needed building up. He has a deadful diet, still does

StealthPolarBear · 23/07/2009 14:47

"I know that some men worry that if they can't feed the baby that they won't bond properly"
can't help with the exhaustion thing, but I used to snuggle up to DH when feeding DS, sit between his legs so he could look down at DS in the same way I did, stroke his hair etc, and rub my shoulders. We all liked that He did enjoy feeding DS from a bottle as well though when I could express enough.

StealthPolarBear · 23/07/2009 14:48

but never offered to do it between the hours of 10pm and 7am

pseudoname · 23/07/2009 15:34

Steatlth! DD1 had a dreadful diet at the same age as your DS, does she look unhealthy to you?

Yes, you saw her yesterday at my front door when you dropped of Jim at lunchtime.

StealthPolarBear · 23/07/2009 15:53

lol I was just going to ask how was I meant to know!!
no, she certainly doesn't - she's full of beans! Please tell me she eats anything and everything now?

pseudoname · 23/07/2009 15:55

no she doesn't quite but she eats better at nursery around her friends that she does at home.

verytiredmummy · 23/07/2009 16:20

I expect you'll all shout at me but I firmly believe formula should be advertised and talked about.

This is partly because I find it quite offensive that women are considered so stupid that if they see an ad for formula they'll stop breastfeeding. And partly because I had such a hard-time breastfeeding, which ended with my husband doing a 4am dash to the all-night Tesco and buying whichever carton they had. I think if I'd had some information about the different kinds of formula beforehand, I would have been able to make an informed choice about which was best for my baby, and buy some cartons in advance (which is what I intend to do for my new baby - just in case I struggle to breastfeed again).

I also think teaching mums how to make up bottles and use sterilisers etc is very handy and something that's never talked about. I didn't realise there were different teats until my baby was about six months old - because no one told me.

There's a massive taboo about formula feeding and in my opinion it's just another thing to make mums feel guilty. My little boy is two now and I still can't talk about breastfeeding him without crying.

But saying all that I do really HATE those adverts. Find them very cringe-worthy and they sort of make my teeth hurt, if that makes sense.