Baby milk manufacturers are still illegally advertising formula milk to mothers by taking advantage of loopholes in the law, according to a report produced by Save the Children, the National Childbirth Trust and UNICEF UK.
Tuesday 7 August 2007
"The law that is supposed to stop formula milk companies from promoting their products and protect babies and parents is not working. Formula companies are finding increasingly devious ways to beat the ban and continue to bombard parents with misleading information about the alleged similarities of breast and bottle.
"The law must be tightened up - the government must close these loopholes once and for all," said Michael O'Donnell, Head of Hunger Reduction at Save the Children.
The report, A weak formula for legislation: how loopholes in the law are putting babies at risk, is calling on the Government to:
- ban the promotion of 'follow-on-formula' (for babies over six months)
- stop formula milk companies from using their company name or logo on leaflets and in magazines as a form of advertising.
The report, to be released during World Breastfeeding Week, coincides with the government and the Food Standards Agency's current review of existing legislation.
Save the Children, the National Childbirth Trust and UNICEF UK are calling on the Government to strengthen the 1995 law that made it illegal to advertise formula milk in the UK by adopting the WHO Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes.
The legal loopholes
- Advertising formula milk for babies under six months is illegal, but advertising it for babies over six months is allowed (follow-on-formula)
- The law bans companies from putting the name of their formula milk brands on any information they provide to mothers. However, they are allowed to put their company logo on it.
Join the campaign
- Write to Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State for Health, to stop formula milk promotion in the UK
- Watch our animation about Little Jack and then play our game to help him fight back against baby milk marketing.