GROUP MEMBERS:

MOIZ NASEEM
M.SHARIQUE SJAFIQUE
REHAN AHMED
ETHICAL ISSUES FACED BY NESTLE
BABY MILK ISSUE:
The most resounding and far-reaching unethical international business practices that Nestl has
been involved in is the marketing and sale of infant milk formula in developing countries in the 1970s.
This practice resulted in several premature infant deaths because uneducated and poor mothers
ceased to breastfeed and instead fed their babies Nestls formula. Unable to understand the
instructions for preparing the formula and having insufficient money to afford adequate doses of it, led
several of them to unknowingly starve their children to death.
Groups such as the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) and Save the Children claim
that the promotion of infant formula over breastfeeding has led to health problems and deaths among
infants in less economically developed countries. There are four problems that can arise when poor
mothers in developing countries switch to formula:
Formula must normally be mixed with water, which is often contaminated in poor countries, leading to
disease in vulnerable infants. Because of the low literacy rates in developing nations, many mothers
are not aware of the sanitation methods needed in the preparation of bottles. Even mothers able to
read in their native tongue may be unable to read the language in which sterilization directions are
written.
Although some mothers can understand the sanitation standards required often do not have the
means to perform them: fuel to boil water, electric (or other reliable) light to enable sterilization at
night. UNICEF estimates that a formula-fed child living in disease-ridden and unhygienic conditions is
between six and 25 times more likely to die of diarrhea and four times more likely to die of
pneumonia than a breastfed child.
Many poor mothers use less formula powder than is necessary, in order to make a container of
formula last longer. As a result, some infants receive inadequate nutrition from weak solutions of
formula.
 CONSEQUENCES FACED BY
NESTLE
When news of this reached the global public in the late 1970s, it caused a boycott of
Nestl products in the United States and several European countries, which has, to this
day, not yet completely ceased. Nestl has since stopped marketing the formula in third
world countries and in their marketing policy they now maintain that breast milk is the
most appropriate form of nutrition for infants, but that women who cant or choose not to
breastfeed can find a good substitute in using the formula.

Current status of the boycott:

The Nestl boycott is currently coordinated by the International Nestl Boycott
Committee, the secretariat for which is the UK group Baby Milk Action. Company
practices are monitored by the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), which
consists of more than 200 groups in over 100 countries.
In parallel with the boycott, campaigners work for implementation of the Code and
Resolutions in legislation, and claim that 60 countries have now introduced laws
implementing most or all of the provisions.
Many European universities, colleges, and schools have banned the sale of Nestl
products from their shops and vending machines. In the United Kingdom, 73 student
unions, 102 businesses, 30 faith groups, 20 health groups, 33 consumer groups, 18
local authorities, 12 trade unions, education groups, 31 MPs, and many celebrities
support the Nestle boycott.
Nestl claims that it is in full compliance with the International Code. According to Nestle
CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, "we also carry out annual audits on WHO Code compliance
with a sample of Nestl companies, and we investigate any substantiated claims made by
those who believe we have broken the Code.... If we find that the Code has been
deliberately violated, we take disciplinary action. The company maintains that many of the
allegations are unsubstantiated, out of date, or use IBFAN's own non-standard interpretation
of the Code.
In May 2011, the debate over Nestl's unethical marketing of infant formula was relaunched
in the Asia-Pacific region. 19 leading Laos-based international NGOs, including
Save the Children, Oxfam, CARE International, Plan International and World Vision have
launched a boycott of Nestl and written an open letter to the company. Among other
unethical practices, the NGOs criticized the lack of labelling in Laos and the provision of
incentives to doctors and nurses to promote the use of infant formula

Boycott in the media:

An episode of the TV show The Mark Thomas Product produced by the British Channel Four
in 1999 investigated the boycott and Nestl's practices concerning baby milk. Mark Thomas
attempted to find evidence for claims against Nestl and to speak to heads of the company.
In one portion of the show he "received a tin of baby milk from Mozambique. All instructions
are in English. 33 languages and dialects are recognized in Mozambique. Portuguese is the
official language. However, only about 30% of the population can speak it. English is usually
the second language for people in Mozambique.
In 2001, comedian Robert Newman and actress Emma Thompson called for a boycott of the
Perrier Comedy Award, because Perrier is owned by Nestl. An alternative competition
called the Tap Water Awards was set up the following year.
Other Nestl operations targeted:
Nestl is sometimes targeted for other aspects of its operations. A
Brazilian group called Cidados pelas guas (Citizens for Water)
has called for a boycott of Nestl in Brazil over the company's
extraction of water from an aquifer in So Loureno. Some also
boycott Nestl coffee and chocolate products in favour of fair trade
alternatives. (Partners Blend coffee, launched by Nestl during
2005, has obtained Fairtrade labelling status.) Baby Milk Action
has also condemned this development.
In the Philippines, there exists a Boycott Nestl campaign due to
suspected labor rights violations in a factory in Laguna province.
This campaign is led by Kilusang Mayo Uno.

STEPS TAKEN BY NESTL TO SOLVE THE ISSUE
CREATED

Re-writing history:
After a break of more than a year, Nestl's Code 'Action' Report has appeared on the
scene again and been distributed to health campaigners and policy makers around the
world. Nestl welcomes one aspect of Resolution 54.2 adopted by the World Health
Assembly in May 2001. This relates to the appropriate age for introducing
complementary foods.
However, this is just one issue addressed by the Resolution. Nestl ignores other
aspects, probably because it is already violating provisions enshrining a mother's right
to information free from commercial influence. For example, Nestl recently launched
an infant formula promotion campaign in southern Africa which violates the sections
relating to HIV and infant feeding.
In the 'Action' Report Nestl's Chief Executive Officer, Peter Brabeck-Letmath, states:
"I can publicly assure you that Nestl is in favour of the new recommendation
as it aims at removing the ambiguity on the recommendation which prevailed up
to now, and hopefully will end the long-standing debate over the optimal
duration of exclusive breastfeeding."
Mr. Brabeck's statement misrepresents the Resolutions adopted in the past by the
World Health Assembly and attempts to excuse 7-years of inaction by Nestl.
Nestl in Brazil:
It is worth commenting on the interview with Jos Serra, Minister of Health Brazil, obtained
by Nestl and published in the Code 'Action' Report.
The Brazilian government has taken a strong line in putting forward Resolution 54.2 and
has been congratulated by IBFAN and Baby Milk Action for this and other stands it has
taken in support of infant health. However, the government is also under immense
pressure from the baby food industry. Last year it planned to publish the results of its own
monitoring which found violations by companies including Nestl. Nestl dispatched its
Vice-President, Niels Christiansen, prompting newspaper articles about industry lobbying
to suppress the report, followed by claim and counter claim. While it is known that one
government department refused to discuss the report with Mr. Christiansen, it has still not
been published over a year later.
In the interview published by Nestl, Jos Serra, Minister of Health Brazil, states: "The
Brazilian food industry was an important partner in both the formulation and recent
update of the Code [in Brazil]". It should be appreciated that this is a statement from a
politician in diplomatic mode. Elsewhere the Brazilian Ministry of Health has written:
"The outcomes of the government policies toward breastfeeding in Brazil have
become well-known internationally. Brazil is perhaps the only country in the world
to have managed, by implementing integrated strategic actions, to take on the
aggressive infant food industry marketing and reverse the disastrous impact of
untimely weaning on infant health."
IBFAN was also involved in the development of the Brazilian Code and has worked to
strengthen it to reflect all WHA Resolutions and received the Order of Merit from Jos
Serra on 18th June 2000 for the actions it has developed to promote breastfeeding.