uk: Breast vs bottle: the new battleground - as Nestlé forges links with government

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Nine out of 10 women stop breastfeeding before they want to.

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*Breast vs bottle: the new battleground*

*Just as the Department of Health is trying to promote breastfeeding,

food giant Nestlé, makers of powdered baby milk, is forging links with

the Government.*

By Jane Merrick

Sunday, 11 May 2008

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/breast-\

vs-bottle-the-new-battleground-825908.html

Efforts to encourage more women to breastfeed are being threatened by

" aggressive " lobbying directed at the Government by the baby milk

manufacturing industry, campaigners warned yesterday.

The powdered milk manufacturer Nestlé has forged formal links with the

Department of Health and took a ministerial aide on an all-expenses-paid

trip to South Africa, The Independent on Sunday has discovered.

To coincide with the start of National Breastfeeding Awareness Week

today, the Secretary of State for Health, Alan , is under

pressure to encourage mothers to give their babies breast milk beyond

six months. Evidence suggests it helps curb obesity in the poorest

families and prevents illness.

Children's charities also want the Government to impose an outright ban

on the promotion of powdered formula milk because they claim it

encourages women to stop breastfeeding too early.

A ban on advertising infant formula for babies up to six months was

introduced in the UK in January. Ministers are considering whether to

extend the ban to follow-on formula milk products.

An investigation by the IoS has uncovered strong ties between Nestlé,

the world's largest baby milk manufacturer, and the Department of

Health. Rosie , a parliamentary private secretary to the Health

minister Ben Bradshaw, is undergoing a year-long Industry and Parliament

Trust fellowship with Nestlé, and in February went for a week to South

Africa as a guest of the group to oversee its corporate social

responsibility activities.

Critics said it was " very worrying " that a member of the Government was

working so closely with Nestlé, which is trying to break into the

mainstream baby milk market in the UK.

Last night the Department of Health insisted it was taking steps to

increase breastfeeding rates, especially among younger women in

disadvantaged areas.

To mark National Breastfeeding Awareness Week, mothers will be sent text

messages to persuade them not to give up.

But the NCT (National Childbirth Trust), Unicef, Save the Children and

campaigning group Baby Milk Action, which has organised a boycott of

Nestlé, are demanding the Government go further by introducing tough new

laws cracking down on the multimillion-pound powdered milk market.

The Department of Health declined to say whether the Health Secretary or

other ministers knew of Ms 's links to Nestlé. She has not

recorded the South Africa trip on the Register of MPs' Interests but has

said she did not consider this necessary because her fellowship with

Nestlé is registered with the Electoral Commission.

While she has not breached parliamentary rules, MPs said the decision

raised questions about her judgement.

Ms 's trip to South Africa shows the extent to which Nestlé has

forged links at the heart of government. She and three fellow Labour MPs

had their flights, accommodation and other expenses paid for on the

week-long visit, which took place from 7 to 14 February.

A week later, Ms , MP for West Lancashire, asked Gordon Brown

during Prime Minister's Questions about coffee and Fairtrade Fortnight,

with which Nestlé is involved.

Campaigners claim Nestlé is still breaking the World Health Organisation

code for marketing breastmilk substitutes by promoting its formula milk

in the developing world.

The World Health Organisation banned the marketing of breast milk

substitutes nearly 30 years ago. But it was only in January this year

that the UK banned the promotion of formula milk to mothers of babies

under six months.

There are rules restricting promotion of follow-on milk for older

babies, including a ban on references to pregnancy and showing babies

under six months in advertisements. Yet there is no outright ban on

follow-on formula, and critics say that a failure to close the loophole

would mean mothers were still being encouraged to give up breastfeeding.

Belinda Phipps, chief executive of the NCT, said: " Research shows that

over-promotion of any sort of formula depresses the breastfeeding rate.

" Nestlé are trying to launch a brand in the UK but they have had

difficulties because of their reputation across the world. Nestlé does

do some good work in order to improve its public profile but it is

viewed really badly around the world.

" Any parliamentarian should be extremely wary of accepting hospitality

from such an unpopular company. "

The Liberal Democrat health spokesman, Norman Lamb, said: " It is a

massive error of judgement to have this link with Nestlé, given her [Ms

's] position.

Mike Brady, campaigns and networking coordinator at Baby Milk Action,

said: " Time and again we see Nestlé trying to ingratiate itself with

health workers and policymakers through gifts, free trips, sponsorship

and so-called partnerships.

" Surely the Government should not look to companies to fund and organise

trips such as this. If there is a legitimate public interest in

fact-finding in South Africa, it should be publicly funded. "

Senay Camgoz, Unicef UK spokesman, called on the Government to stop the

infant formula industry exploiting loopholes in the legislation

concerning the advertising of its products.

Ms defended her work with Nestlé last night. She said: " I was

advised by the registrar of member's interests that I did not have to

declare the trip on the register, as visits undertaken as part of an IPT

fellowship are directly excluded.

" I subsequently contacted and declared the trip with the Electoral

Commission as she advised. I began my fellowship long before becoming a

PPS at the Department of Health.

" I have never raised any issue concerning Nestlé, either in my capacity

as a PPS or as a backbench MP. "

The Breastfeeding Manifesto Coalition, an umbrella organisation of 40

charities and royal colleges, including Save the Children, Unicef and

the Royal College of Midwives, also calls for other steps by the

Government to support breastfeeding.

They want the Government to bring England and Wales into line with

Scotland, where women have a legal right to breastfeed in public. Women

in England and Wales are allowed to do this, but if, for example, a

restaurant manager objects, they have no rights enshrined in law.

Research by the NCT shows that nine out of 10 women stop breastfeeding

before they want to.

The Department of Health is to launch a " Breast Buddy " scheme, fronted

by Atomic Kitten singer Frost, under which women nominate a close

friend or relative to provide emotional support while they are

breastfeeding. Mothers from low-income backgrounds, and those aged 16 to

25, who are less likely to breastfeed, will be targeted by the initiative.

The Government wants breastfeeding rates to increase by two percentage

points per year. In 2000, 71 per cent of mothers initially breastfed --

but by 2005 the figure had risen to 77 per cent.

Official figures show a clear link between breastfeeding and poverty --

except in London, where rates are high regardless of income. In

Knowsley, Merseyside, one of the most disadvantaged areas in the

country, just 28 per cent of mothers breastfeed. Hartlepool,

Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull are all in the bottom

10 primary care trust areas.

The top 10 areas are all in London. Lambeth -- which does have pockets

of extreme poverty -- is top overall, with 93 per cent of mothers

breastfeeding.

The Department of Health said the awareness campaign had nothing to do

with the activities of Nestlé. A spokesman said: " We want to show that

this is not just for middle-class white people -- we want to give

everyone encouragement for breastfeeding. It is healthy and beneficial

for children and mothers. We want to dispel any myths or public

negativity towards it and tackle inequalities. "

Advertisers spend £10 promoting formula for every £1 the NHS spends

encouraging breastfeeding.

Nestlé could not be contacted for comment last night, but its website

says: " Nestlé firmly believe that breastfeeding is the best way to feed

a baby, and we are strongly committed to the promotion of breastfeeding

throughout the world.

" However, some mothers, for a variety of reasons, do not breastfeed, and

in these cases, infant formula is the only product recognised by the

World Health Organisation (WHO) as a suitable alternative. "

*

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