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Nestlé's
verybestbaby.com site
The
only one . . .
In
January 2001, when the WHO Executive Board specifically
warned about the use of Internet advertising for
products under the scope of the International
Code, the USA government was the only one to object
and even wanted all references to "electronic"
media deleted.
However,
the World Health Assembly adopted Resolution WHA
54.2 addressing such promotion in May 2001
by consensus.
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Adiri
'Breastbottle' nurser.
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LINKS
TO DOCTORS AND NURSES
Another promotional
method is not only to use the company's own website
but also to advertise products or services on other
websites aimed at mothers or mothers-to-be. Baby food
companies provide a large proportion of advertising
on such sites. For example, freegifts4kids.com
is sponsored by Gerber, Nestlé Carnation and Mead Johnson's
Enfamil and contains links to their websites. Such sites
contain (sometimes inaccurate or misleading) infant
feeding recommendations, surveys and offers of products
and club memberships. Kidsgrowth.com, as another
example, is sponsored by Similac (an Abbott-Ross formula)
and recommends complementary feeding well before six
months of age. Mothers in the USA and Canada receive
samples, discount coupons, newsletters and gifts through
such sites. Mead Johnson gets more than it pays for
with Enfamil's sponsorship of the sites WebMD
and WebRN as the contents of supposedly professional
articles on those sites are shockingly anti-breastfeeding.
The extent of this mutually beneficial relationship
is evident in that WebMD is advertised on the
top of Enfamil tins.
Abbott Laboratories
received a boost in the credibility of its products
when company researchers were quoted in an online article
by the US FDA titled "Infant Formula: Second Best But
Good Enough" The article serves industry's interests
in saying, "Infant formula is increasingly close to
breastmilk".
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