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IBCLC Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, PhD, breaks down the Booby Traps in a Gerber “Breastfeeding Hints and hurdles” advertisement appearing on WebMD. Read about it in her Blog, “Deconstructing Gerber: Why Industry Should Not be Giving Health Advice.“

A Virginia jury awarded $13.5 million in damages to manufacturers of store-brand infant formula. PBM Products had contested Mead Johnson’s claims that “only Enfamil LIPIL is clincally proven to improve brain and eye development.”

Mead Johnson uses aggressive marketing tactics, such as hospital marketing, to convince families to purchase its high-priced formula. Mead Johnson’s product costs twice as much as the PBM products sold at Sam’s Club, Target, Kroger and Walgreen’s, the company told the associated press. Read more »

Facing pressure from mothers and professional groups to limit hospital-based marketing, formula companies are looking for new partners to pitch their products.  

Mothers continue to receive uninvited coupons and samples mailed to their homes — according to a recent CDC study, nearly 2/3 of first-time mothers received a free sample of infant formula in the mail .  

Industry marketers continue to reach mothers through mailing lists sold by baby product manufacturers or maternity retailers. In the hospitals, some mothers have reported that baby photo companies are providing addresses to the formula industry to pitch their products to moms.

The industry seems to be extending that strategy to small businesses: we’ve had reports that businesses catering to young families, such as baby photo studios, are handing out formula samples and coupons to clients. In one case, the owner of a photo studio confirmed that a formula representative had approached her about distributing their marketing materials. In another case, a photo company that takes newborn photos in the hospital was connecting with at least one formula manufacturer to share contact information of new parents.

Where have you seen formula handouts in your community? And what can we do to educate businesses about the financial costs and health risks of marketing branded formula to new mothers?  

Studies show that formula marketing bags shorten exclusive breastfeeding duration, even when the formula samples are removed from the bags. How does that work? It’s simple – but subtle. Industry-manufactured “breastfeeding support guides” offer advice that undermines mothers and promotes artificial breastmilk substitutes, as Erin explains beautifully in her guest blog, Helping Themselves: Breastfeeding Advice Nestle-Style.

Mead Johnson pulls “Breast milk formula” web page title

Mead Johnson hit new lows this past week, calling Lipil “The Breast Milk Formula” on its web site. The title to the web page was changed to “Enfamil – Lipil” following a concerted campaign by breastfeeding activists to contact the Federal Trade Commission.

Mead Johnson’s advertising is already under review by the FTC for overstating the health benefits from added fatty acids DHA/ARA. With the recent “breast milk formula” ploy, Mead Johnson sank to new lows, essentially claiming that infant formula is the same thing as human milk.

Read more »

In another cynical move to market formula in the guise of breastfeeding support, Abbott Labs has partnered with Working Mother magazine to create a “workplace breastfeeding support” kit. Blogging in The Huffington Post, Dr. Melissa Bartick explains why businesses should steer clear of formula propaganda, and instead use the Business Case for Breastfeeding, a federally-funded workplace lactation support program.

A “Mama is…” cartoon speculates on how the formula samples in the Enfamil “Breastefeeding Kit” could possibly help mothers successfully nurse. See the cartoon.

Writing in “The Kid’s Menu,” Lesley Porcelli describes how she and her baby resisted a barrage of formula handouts and industry-endorsing health care providers to breastfeed successfully. She writes, “The world seems to start pushing formula on mothers at the moment of conception. But what if you just want your baby to drink breast milk?” Read the article.

The Center for Media and Democracy awarded the Bronze Medal “Falsie” award to the IFC for egregious distortion of information on the health risks of formula feeding. The Falsies honor the year’s most “cynical, manipulative and just plain anti-democratic pollution of our information environment.”

The Center writes:

For portraying accurate health information as alarmism and intrusive marketing campaigns as “freedom” — not to mention helping to keep U.S. breastfeeding rates well below those of European countries — this Falsie’s for you, IFC!

Read the full story here

Just how far will the formula industry go to undermine moms and babies? The Center for Media and Democracy has nominated the Infant Formula Council for the 2007 “Falsie” award, which honors the year’s most egregious spinners and propaganda artists. In their nomination, the Falsies pinpoint “Mom’s Feeding Freedom,” the industry’s fake grass roots site, as well as the industry’s successful effort to undermine the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ campaign for breastfeeding.

Cast your vote to make the IFC the biggest “Falsie” of 2007:
http://survey.prwatch.org/public/survey.php?name=falsies2007