UN bodies warn about unethical baby milk marketing in South Africa

“False, incomplete, misleading health and nutrition claims by formula companies should stop now. The WHO calls on formula milk companies to stop presenting incomplete scientific evidence and inferring unsupported health outcomes,” says the WHO’s Country Representative, Shenaaz El-Halabi. 

WHO and UNICEF are specifically calling on local regulators to update the South African government’s Regulations Relating to Foodstuffs for Infants and Young Children (aka R991) to include other advertising techniques and digital marketing practices that have become prevalent in the past few years since the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes of 1981 and local Regulation R991 of 2012 were drafted.  

“Some popular social media platforms, whose algorithms can target specific consumers with specific messages at specific times, were still in their infancy or did not yet exist in 2012,” says the manifesto.  

“Of particular concern is that parents are often targeted with information that blurs the lines between nutritional facts and promotional pseudo-science and emotional manipulation when they are at their most vulnerable. 

“The pseudo-scientific health claims made by formula companies discourage mothers from breastfeeding, which should always be a first choice as breastmilk is the most complete and healthiest milk for babies. 

“In addition, widespread evidence exists that women have internalised doubts about the quality and quantity of their breastmilk, mirroring the themes and messaging of formula milk marketing campaigns.” 

Inappropriate promotion of breastmilk substitutes 

In line with a multi-country study on the impacts of marketing breastmilk substitutes, compiled by the two UN bodies in conjunction with M&C Saatchi Worldwide Services, WHO and UNICEF warn that “inappropriate promotion of breastmilk substitutes negatively impacts breastfeeding practices, and that advertisers are promoting a false choice between formula feeding and breastfeeding, without offering informed choice to parents about the real differences between breastmilk and various brands of formula”. 

According to Dr Laurence Grummer-Strawn, who leads the WHO’s work on infant and young child feeding, the two organisations have uncovered systematic and unethical marketing strategies by the infant formula industry. 

Grummer-Strawn says the “infant formula industry uses pervasive, personalised and powerful methods to target parents when they are at their most vulnerable in the early days of their new baby’s life, and manipulate scientific claims to promote their products whilst undermining parents’ confidence”. 

You can read more about the manifesto, and find links to relevant health information, here. 

You can watch a YouTube video produced by UNICEF South Africa here.