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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

In the September issue of Mothering Magazine, editor Peggy O’Mara details infant formula industry efforts to undermine breastfeeding:

In addition to the inaccurate information on breastfeeding provided by the mainstream media, the unethical marketing practices of the formula companies continue to undermine breastfeeding. Author Margaret Kenda recently told me about several “stealth” breastfeeding websites that appear to be grassroots advocacy sites, but are actually mouthpieces for the formula industry.

Read the full story

Writing for The Washington Post, reporters Marc Kaufman and Christopher Lee detail formula industry efforts to eviscerate a Dept of Health and Human Services breastfeeding promotion campaign. The report illustrates the formula industry’s agenda to market its product at the expense of public health. Read the article.

Portland, Oregon – To kick off Oregon’s Breastfeeding Promotion Month, Dr. Susan Allan, Public Health Director for Oregon Department of Human Services, presented “Maternity Care Best Practices” awards to 15 area hospitals which have eliminated formula sample packs from the discharge bags customarily given to mothers as they head home with their new babies. Portland is the first city in the nation to have both public and private hospitals ban the formula sample packs since the launch of the national “Ban the Bag” campaign one year ago. Read more »

NPR reported on New York City’s new policy in a conversation with Kim Gande, president of NOW, and Faye Wattleton, president of the Center for the Advancemet of Women, and followed up with a round table discussion with the Mocha Moms. Gande and Wattleton emphasized broader cultural obstacles to breastfeeding, and dismissed Bloomberg’s bag policy as a “band-aid” rather than a solution. Like many commentators, they were unaware of data from dozens of randomized controlled trials showing that commercial discharge packs undermine breastfeeding.

New York City’s hospitals launched a new breastfeeding promotion and support program this week, featuring non-commercial discharge bags with a coolor for pumped milk and an “I eat at Moms” onesie.

The launch has generated extensive press coverage, including reports from The New York Times web site, The New York Post, CBS TV, ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, and others.

Many of the reports inaccurately imply that hospitals are banning formula. The actual policy, detailed in a New York City press release, makes formula available to bottle-feeding moms on request. The Today Show’s report was particularly egregious, misleading millions of viewers by stating that formula would no longer be available in City hospitals.

The Infant Formula Council’s “Moms Feeding Freedom” web site has deleted scores of anti-marketing posts from its blog and discussion forums, censoring animated discussions among mothers about the ethics of aggressive formula marketing tactics.

Posting about the deleted threads, contributor Songbh writes, “So, what does it say when a website that claims to be devoted to protecting mothers’ freedoms and choices starts ‘disappearing’ our free speech?”
Read more »

In an editorial this week, The New York Times calls for a national registry to track drug-company gifts to health care providers. “It’s no surprise that the pharmaceutical industry is appalled at proposals to set up a national registry of its gifts and payments to doctors,” The Times writes. “Too much information might lead patients to suspect that their doctors are choosing costly medicines out of gratitude to the manufacturers rather than for the best medical or economic interests of their patients.” Read the editorial

Boston, MA – Touting “maternity patients’ rights,” an International Formula Council-backed bill is under consideration by the Joint Committee on Public Health. The bill would legislate a mother’s “right” to formula samples and equipment in the hospital, protecting industry interests at the expense of public health. Read more »