MP URGES HEALTH MINISTER TO BAN ADVERTISING OF INFANT FORMULA

In a debate in Parliament today, Stafford’s Labour MP David Kidney called on Health Minister Dawn Primarolo to get tough on companies who get round laws designed to protect babies and their parents.

A 1995 law bans the makers of infant formula from promoting their products direct to mothers, pregnant women and the public at large. In the intervening year since then the companies have found ways to get round the law. This has led to the Minister saying that she intend to tighten the law to prevent abuses.

In today’s debate, David Kidney urged the Minister to make the restrictions as tough as possible:

“There are good public health reasons why the activities of companies who market breast milk substitutes should be controlled. These include the safety and health of new-born babies – for example, because powdered formula is not sterile and care needs to be taken over preparing it without contamination – and not undermining efforts to promote breastfeeding.

“I recognise that some parents rely on infant formula because breastfeeding is not possible.
And this is a free country so I accept that some parents are going to choose formula over breast feeding for other reasons, too. I also recognise that there is a legitimate market for infant formula. I just don’t trust companies with a commercial interest to give out objective public health messages on matters of such importance. This is the job of Government.”

In responding to the debate, which was initiated by David Kidney, Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said that she intended to tighten the law on labelling and promotion of all infant formula products. She assured Stafford’s MP that she also plans to review the effectiveness of the law changes 12 months later.

The infant formula companies are challenging the Minister’s new Regulations in a court case, and a judge has suspended the law changes. The minister has agreed to meet David Kidney and members of the Breastfeeding Manifesto Coalition to discuss this matter.