The topic of breastfeeding is often fraught with uncertainty for young parents. Experts warn that baby food companies are using the worries specifically for advertising purposes. With the help of a contract, the marketing strategy is now to be put under pressure. Market leader Nestlé meanwhile rejects all blame.
Health experts are calling for a tougher crackdown on infant formula companies' marketing practices and more support for mothers to breastfeed. A legally binding contract is needed that protects women from "exploitative marketing" and bans companies from political lobbying, they write in the medical journal The Lancet.
The authors argue that manufacturers exploit the insecurities of young mothers to do business. They gave the impression that babies who do not sleep through the night or suffer from colic would be better supplied with formula than breast milk. However, restless behavior of babies is common and such problems can be solved with the support of professionals. Breastfed babies would undoubtedly have the best start in life.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that babies should be exclusively breastfed for six months. Babies should also be given other foods after that, but they should continue to be breastfed at least until their second birthday. The WHO had denounced the marketing practices of manufacturers in a 2022 report. Sometimes employees take part in groups for young mothers on social media. They fueled fears and touted powdered milk as a solution without saying they would be paid for it, it said.
The manufacturer with the largest market share worldwide, the Swiss company Nestlé, rejects such machinations. "We support the WHO recommendation that babies should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives," the company said.
