13 July 2001 - IBFAN's monitoring used by compilers of FTSE ethical investment index

Some of the worlds largest food and pharmaceutical companies have been excluded from the new FTSE4Good (footsie for good) ethical investment index launched this week because they continue to violate the breastmilk substitutes marketing requirements.

UNICEF (which will receive donations from the profits generated by the index) has stated that reversing the decline in breastfeeding could save the lives of 1.5 million infants around the world every year.

Household names such as Nestlé, Abbott Ross, American Home Products (Wyeth), Mead-Johnson and NUMICO (Nutricia, Milupa, Cow&Gate), Meiji and Snow Brand have all been found to violate the 1981 International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant Resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly. None appear on the lists published this week on the FTSE4Good website.

The latest IBFAN monitoring report, Breaking the Rules, Stretching the Rules 2001 (the result of monitoring
in 14 countries) contains company profiles and IBFANs new Look What They e Doing pamphlets explain how marketing malpractice influences infant feeding decisions and impacts on infant health.

Baby milk companies violating the International Code and Resolutions are excluded from the FTSE4Good index under section eight of the criteria for social issues and stakeholder relations which states:

"Companies must not have breached the infant formula manufacturing section of the International Code on Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes according to the International Baby Food Action Network [IBFAN]."
Ethical investment firms operating in the UK and elsewhere already exclude violators of the Code and Resolutions from their portfolios. Legislation introduced by the UK government last year requires all pension funds to disclose the "extent to which social, environmental and ethical considerations are taken into account in the selection, retention and realisation of investments" and has increased the interest in ethical investment.

There are FTSE4Good indices for the UK, Europe, US and the whole world. The UK list excludes one third of the companies on the general FTSE100 list of companies traded on the London Stock Exchange. The indices have received some criticism, however. For example, environmental and human rights campaigners are objecting to the inclusion of oil companies.
For more information please contact; Mike Brady, Campaigns Coordinator, Baby Milk Action
(the UK IBFAN group)

Notes for editors

  1. To receive email alerts when new information is posted on this website, please complete the form
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  2. FTSE4Good is an index for "socially responsible investment" designed by FTSE, one of the worlds
    leading global index providers. According to the FTSE4Good website: "FTSE4Good is a series of benchmark and tradable indices facilitating investment in companies with good records of corporate
    social responsibility. FTSE4Good is unique - there is no other socially responsible index quite like it. Independently defined and researched, FTSE4Good sets an objective global standard for
    socially responsible investment. The FTSE4Good Selection Criteria cover 3 areas:
  • Working towards environmental sustainability
  • Developing positive relationships with stakeholders
  • Upholding and supporting universal human rights"
FTSE4Good selection criteria were developed by FTSE in association with the Ethical Investment Research Service.


 

 


 
 
 
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