Early Life Nutrition and Lifelong Health - Derbyshire Local Medical ...

BMA Board of ScienceAppendix 5: The InternationalCode on the Marketing ofBreast Milk SubstitutesThe code was established by WHO in 1981 and has been modified by subsequent World HealthAssembly resolutions. The essential elements are as follows.• The Code forbids direct contacts between commercial representatives and medical personnel,mothers or pregnant women.• Baby food companies may not distribute free or discounted samples of formula in hospitals andother health premises.• Advertisements for baby foods must not target parents of infants younger than six months.• There should be no promotional distribution of dummies (pacifiers), bottles or teats.• Manufacturers of breast milk substitutes may not distribute promotional gifts to health workers,and information produced for health professionals should be strictly factual and based onscientific studies.• Images of mothers and children are not allowed on packaging. Information on labels must beprinted in easy to understand terms in the local language. Certain words, such as ‘motherly’,cannot be used. The labels must state that breastfeeding is the best way of feeding babies andthat a substitute should only be used after consultation with health professionals.The Code has no legal power unless it is incorporated into national legislatures (as in the UK).Many developing countries have no effective legislation. The Code was initiated in response toaggressive marketing of formula in developing countries in the 1970s and 80s. Code violations aremonitored by the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) (www.ibfan.org); according toIBFAN, violations are much less common but are still occurring.74Early life nutrition and lifelong health