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Archive
Action July - September 2007: Send a message to the government about strengthening the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations.
Baby Milk Action press release 10 August 2007: New UK formula labels lack correct information - calls for better warnings and instructions (this call is included in the BFLG's action - Baby Milk Action coordinates the BFLG monitoring project).
Baby Milk Action press release 19 July 2007: Parliamentary campaign launched to enforce infant formula marketing regulations.
Media Watch 19 June 2007: Children's health is coming second to the profits of baby formula peddlers - George Monbiot writes in The Guardian about baby milk marketing in the UK. Help strengthen the UK law.
Policy comments 18 June 2007: Cereals and Parnuts (background papers are available on the Baby Milk Action website - click here)
Press release 31 March 2007: The fourth Julie Crawford Award for Breastfeeding Support goes to Annette Ogilvie-Forbes. Nominations open for 2007 Award.
Baby Milk Action campaign blog 5 April 2007: SMA plans new 'close to breastmilk’ launch following UK crackdown on claims
Baby Milk Action press release 12 March 2007: Campaigners claim victory as crackdown on ‘closer to breastmilk’ infant formula promotions is announced in the UK
Baby Milk Action press release 22 February 2007: Hard sell formula – new UK report exposes baby milk company strategies for undermining breastfeeding
22 December 2006: European Union Directive on Infant and Follow-on Formula published. Click here to download.
Do you have a great health visitor? Why not nominate her for the Julie Crawford Award, 2006? The award was set by the Baby Feeding Law Group to honor health visitors who make a significant contribution to the protection of breastfeeding, facilitating universal access to support that is free from commercial influence. Nominations open until 14 October. Click here for further details.
Advocacy update July 2006: Vote NO on Wednesday (19 July) - BFLG message to the UK Government on the EU Directive on Infant and Follow-on Formula
Baby Milk Action press release 19 May 2006: Brussels hands babies to the baby milk pushers – exploiting parents fears issued in advance of a meeting at the House of Commons on 23 May 2006.
Advocacy update March 2006: Responses to the European Commission's re-cast directive on Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula.
Advocacy update February 2006: Letters to government ministers about the health and education white papers calling for action on business sponsorship and for the withdrawal of Nestlé’s infant formula following the scandal over Nestlé NAN HA milk.
Press release 11 November 2005: Julie Crawford Award for breastfeeding support 2005.
UNICEF/NCT press release 19 September 2005: LEGAL LOOPHOLE ALLOWS ?BANNED' ADVERTISING ? PUTTING MOTHERS' AND BABIES' HEALTH AT RISK
NEW FEATURE: Monitoring reports. See which baby food companies and retailers are breaking the UK law and violating the World Health Assembly baby food marketing requirements.
Do you have
a great health visitor? Why
not nominate her for the Julie
Crawford Award, 2005? The award
was set by the Baby Feeding Law
Group to honor health visitors who make a significant contribution
to the protection of breastfeeding, facilitating universal access
to
support that is free from commercial influence. Nominations
open until 14 September 2005. Click
here for further details.
Press release 25 April 2005 - Illegal promotion in shops: The BFLG monitoring project reports on illegal promotion of infant formula in major supermarket chains.
EU campaign: Please send a letter calling for European Union regulations for the marketing of breastmilk substitutes to be brought into line with World Health Assembly standards. Now is the critical time. See the Advocacy section. Also see Baby Milk Action press release 7 March 2005: Failing mothers and babies: authorities unable to stop baby food companies advertising formula - health worker bodies call for government action this week at the European Union
Tsuanmi disaster: See IBFAN"s guide to Infant Feeding in Emergencies. Donations of formula can do more harm than good and, remember, it is against UK law (click here and see article 7) and EU directives to export formula with labels in the wrong language for the destination country. Click here to donate to the UK Disasters Emergency Committee Tsunami Earthquake Appeal
Health watch 6 January 2005: Mead Johnson Pregestimil formula withdrawn internationally following the deaths of two infants in France, attributed to contamination with Enterobacter Sakazakii (click here for the UK National Health Service notification). See Baby Milk Action's Update 35 newsletter for details of the campaign for steps to reduce risks, which is being opposed by the baby food industry.
Media watch 19 November 2004 The Guardian: "Scientific advisers in Europe warned yesterday that powdered baby milk may sometimes be contaminated with bacteria such as salmonella and enterobacter sakazakii, which can cause infection and serious illness in small babies."
Julie Crawford Award 2004: Health Visitors making an outstanding contribution to breastfeeding promotion and support are honoured.
Monitoring advice 8 September 2004: If you are visiting us to complain about the Farley's baby milk advertisements on the Discovery Health Channel, please fill in a monitoring form here and register an official complaint with Ofcom.
Baby Milk Action Press Release 28 July 2004: Nestlé reported to UK Advertising Standards Authority over marketing of 'hypoallergenic' infant formula.
IBFAN Press Release 14 May 2004: Baby food companies exposed as IBFAN presents evidence at UK Parliament. Selected media coverage: The Guardian. The Scotsman. The BBC.
10 May 2004: It's National Breastfeeding Awareness Week, but companies can still get away with saying 'nothing could be simpler or safer' than bottle-feeding (Baby Milk Action press release).
10 May 2004: Myths stop women giving babies the best start in life (Department of Health press release).
16 October 2003: Wrong message given over baby food jar scare (Baby Milk Action press release).
31 July 2003: Wyeth/SMA convicted of illegal infant formula advertising. 'A cynical and deliberate breach of the Regulations'says Judge (Baby Milk Action press release).
Responses from BFLG members |
'The
UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative welcomes this finding.
We would hope that the manufacturers of artificial baby
milk will now cease their attempts to find and exploit
loopholes in the law. However, we also recognise that
this is unlikely to occur voluntarily. We would therefore
call upon the Government to adopt the International Code
in its entirety, as promised by the Prime Minister when
leader of the opposition in 1995, and as supported by
the Government each year at the World Health Assembly.' Andrew Radford |
"La Leche League are delighted with the results of this case. We applaud wholeheartedly the decision. Commercial factors must always be secondary in a consideration of the health and well being of mother and child. Mother's milk is always best, always has been, always will be." Phoebe
Tait |
12 May 2003: Now it's official: breast is best for 6 months.
Guardian newspaper report on UK government's announcement that it will bring policy into line with WHO recommendations on duration of exclusive breastfeeding, with interviews with BFLG members.
11-17 May 2003: National Breastfeeding Awareness Week - DoH site.