According to Jacqueline de Montaigne, Coordinator of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), the EU Commission is claiming that its proposals are a step forward but has taken little account of developments in the global market in the last 10 years where a whole range of new formulas are being aggressively marketed to parents.
Dr João Breda of the World Health Organisation (WHO) attended a Commission Expert Advisory meeting with delegates from IBFAN including Jacqueline de Montaigne from IBFAN Portugal, the UK Baby Feeding Law Group (BFLG) and major baby food companies were also present.
Patti Rundall of Baby Milk Action- IBFAN UK said: “If these proposals go ahead unchanged they can only bring discredit to the EU, a region that prides itself on its high levels of health safety and consumer protection, human rights and sensitivity to the developing world.
“Advertising of breast milk substitutes and sweet processed foods for young babies flies in the face of all health recommendations and conflicts with national health priorities and policies of many EU countries.”
But there have been some changes to the law in this area. According to IBFAN, the Commission has agreed some welcome changes: that labelling of some specialist infant products is improved and the composition of formulas revised (changes the industry want delayed for 5 years). But many products will have unacceptably high levels of sugar and unnecessary ingredients.
Most importantly, the controls on advertising will be some of the worst in the world, according to IBFAN, allowing corporations to promote highly processed products as having ‘added value’ and health and development advantages over fresh family foods, breastfeeding or standard infant formulas.
IBFAN is keen to highlight that the composition of follow-on formulas (FUF) - marketed for babies over 6 months – will have identical compositional requirements as infant formulas for new-born babies. The only small difference according to IBFAN is in the range for iron content, though the ranges overlap and the target level is identical.
Several member states such as Malta and the UK, have tried to control FUF marketing but have come under pressure to weaken their laws claim IBFAN who are also against the stretching of the infant formula brand names beyond FUF to a new range of flavoured sweetened formulas for babies over 12 months (‘Young Child Formulae’)
Obesity has more than tripled in many European countries since the 1980s and 7% of health budgets are now spent on associated diseases. Obesity is of great concern in Portugal as according to WHO´s European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI), childhood obesity is on a sharp rise.
There is worldwide consensus that there is a global health crisis in nutrition and that the costs of diet related diseases are fast consuming health budgets. The importance of early life feeding and behaviour has prompted priority calls for the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding and an immediate end to the marketing of unhealthy foods to all children, for example in the EU Childhood Obesity Action Plan 2014-2020 and most recently the Second International Conference on Nutrition in Rome.
IBFAN believe that breastfeeding is an ideal window of opportunity for the prevention of obesity and a host of other health problems and cite research that has shown that exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and the introduction of complementary foods at about 6 months is associated with lower rates of obesity.
At another meeting with EU Policy makers in Brussels, Patti Rundall, questioned the new EU Commissioner for Health, Vytenis Andriukaitis about the new proposals. Acknowledging that tackling advertising is very difficult, he said that the EU does have a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable in society, and reduce children’s exposure to marketing tactics.
IBFAN is appealing to parliamentarians and EU policy-makers to conduct an impact assessment of these proposals on health and development with regard to formula milk.