Comments on: Nestle Answers: Canada being a signatory to the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes means nothing

By: How to report unethical promotion of formula, bottles and other breastmilk substitutes | PhD in Parenting

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:59:39 +0000

[...] their products in order to increase their profits. Nestle, for one, has made it clear that it does not even attempt to comply with the Code in developed countries (like Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Australia and others) and it falls short in developing [...]

By: Lies, lies and more lies: 3 year government crackdown can’t keep formula companies from misleading consumers | PhD in Parenting

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:01:41 +0000

[...] by phdinparenting on January 12, 2010 Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates from my blog.Powered by WP Greet Box WordPress PluginCanada has signed the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. The Canadian government encourages the infant formula industry to comply with the Code, which means not marketing or promoting infant formula in any way. I explained this and more in my post that concluded Nestle and other infant formula manufacturers do aggressively promote infant …. [...]

By: Nestle Answers: How Nestle uses social media | PhD in Parenting

Nestle Answers: How Nestle uses social media | PhD in Parenting — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:35:06 +0000

[...] to the Nestle Family bloggers, or directly once they joined the conversation themselves on twitter (like the example captured in this post), it was nothing more than a bunch of half-truths and double [...]

By: Nestle Answers: The International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes and the Developing World | PhD in Parenting

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:47:15 +0000

[...] Nestle does not restrict its marketing of breast milk substitutes in places like the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong (last time I checked, Hong Kong was part of China, [...]

By: Nestle answers: Lobbying for weak laws? Nestle says no, evidence says yes | PhD in Parenting

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:39:28 +0000

[...] field. I understand why Nestle likes a level playing field. If it were, for example, to stop using advertising in Canada that blatantly violates the WHO’s International Code of Marketing …, but Enfamil continues with its pervasive and ever-present ads and Heinz keeps putting $10 off [...]

By: Nestle Answers: Auditing obscurity | PhD in Parenting

Nestle Answers: Auditing obscurity | PhD in Parenting — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:45:05 +0000

[...] Nestle claims that it only needs to comply with the Code (and only its version at that) in certain countries of its own choosing. However, the Code indicates that it is applicable everywhere even if individual governments have not taken specific action to adopt it. Despite that, Nestle continues to do whatever it wants in absence of strong legislation and strict penalties. Even in countries that are signatories to the Code and that have outlined their expectations of the industry, Nestle continues to ignore the Code and the wishes of the government. I clearly demonstrated that this is the case in Canada. [...]

By: Strawberry

Strawberry — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:41:35 +0000

1) By promoting breastfeeding and questioning formula feeding, I believe she is making the world a better place.
2) Perhaps you might consider taking your own advice.

By: phdinparenting

phdinparenting — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:27:35 +0000

This is volunteerism and I like it!

By: Mike Brady

Mike Brady — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:51:07 +0000

I am employed by Baby Milk Action as Campaigns and Networking Coordinator. You only have to click on my name for a clear declaration of that. But you can’t click on ‘A Concerned Citizen’ to see who they are…. hmmmm.

Regarding who is telling the truth, we have taken Nestlé to the UK Advertising Standards Authority over an anti-boycott advertisement in which it claimed to market infant formula ‘ethically and responsibly’. All of our complaints were upheld and Nestlé was warned not to repeat the untrue claims again. Unfortunately the ruling only applies to advertising in the UK, not Nestlé websites or message posted to this site, which contain similar untrue claims.

Baby Milk Action was also called on to defend its claims before the Advertising Standards Authority about Nestlé made in one of our boycott advertisements. We did so successfully. The ruling notes the help of WHO in doing so. For this history see:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/pages/jbc.html

The simplest thing though is to judge for yourself. Look at what Nestlé does and how it attempts to justify it. Then look at what the Code says. PhD in Parenting has been providing great assistance in that. For example, do you really think it is fine for Nestlé to be claiming its formula ‘protects’ babies when those fed on it are more likely to become sick than breastfed babies and in conditions of poverty more likely to die? If not, then you can do something about it by supporting the boycott and writing to Nestlé – we are often able to force changes with enough pressure.

While ‘A Concerned Citizen’ warns about checking into people’s backgrounds, this is an anonymous posting. Which brings to mind this article in The Guardian from a few years ago: “The fake persuaders: Corporations are inventing people to rubbish their opponents on the internet.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2002/may/14/greenpolitics.digitalmedia

I don’t know if this applies to ‘A Concerned Citizen’, but as you say…. hmmmm.

My latest blog shows one of the tools that helps corporations track what people say about them online – and also has news of a new book (only in French at the moment) about Nestlé spying on a Swiss organisation. Questionable ethics indeed. See:
http://boycottnestle.blogspot.com/2009/10/corporate-trolls-and-spies.html

By: A Concerned Citizen

A Concerned Citizen — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:39:47 +0000

I though Mike Brady is a paid journalist.. hmmm.. i wonder if a person who accuses others of lieing is in fact himself have questionable ethics. You really should check into other people’s backgrounds before posting their responses. Makes me wonder about you?…. hmmmm