Milk formula goes on trial in Asia

Health experts at a summit in the Philippines this week are urging East Asian countries to tout breast milk's benefits.

from the June 22, 2007 edition

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Targeted advertising for Asian wealth

A generation later, there is suspicion that milk companies are targeting gullible mothers in Asia with false advertising, contrary to the spirit of the code. Lost in the marketing deluge, say critics, is the scientific consensus that advocates exclusive breast-feeding, particularly for the first six months of a child's life.

Such tactics are common in developing Asian countries, where the market potential is greatest, says David Clark, a legal expert for UNICEF who advises countries on how to outlaw abusive marketing practices. As incomes rise and more women join the workforce, companies are zeroing in on Asia, which now accounts for 36 percent of global sales of infant formula.

"You have countries in Asia where people have more disposable income in the middle classes, so it becomes a target for aggressive promotions," he says. "And although it may be targeted at that population, the advertisements are seen by poorer members of the community who can't afford the product."

The battle over how to regulate marketing for milk formula has taken on particular prominence in the Philippines, which has sought to extend a 1986 law, known as the Milk Code. The law placed limits on formula companies' marketing practices.

Public-health officials want tougher rules in order to reverse a decline in breast-feeding in a country where nearly 1 in 3 infants are underweight at age 1.

The Philippine Supreme Court met Tuesday to hear a challenge from an industry group to the proposed new rules, which would tighten existing controls on advertising. The rules would also force manufacturers to include warnings of the risk of contaminated formula on their labels. The group says the Department of Health has overstepped its authority by extending the law.

Later Tuesday, the Philippine government ordered the recall of millions of cans of baby formula produced by US producer Wyeth, one of the companies behind the lawsuit. The government said the product may have been contaminated after a typhoon flooded a warehouse last year.

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