Editorial

WHO condemns baby formula marketing strategies

The WHO Nutrition and Food Safety Department (NFS) has strongly condemned strategies employed by some marketing agencies to market baby formula to breastfeeding mothers terming them as inexcusable. According to

WHO condemns baby formula marketing strategies
  • PublishedMay 12, 2022

The WHO Nutrition and Food Safety Department (NFS) has strongly condemned strategies employed by some marketing agencies to market baby formula to breastfeeding mothers terming them as inexcusable.

According to Dr Francesco Branca, director of the NFS, such aggressive tactics are aimed at persuading women to abandon breastfeeding, even though it should be exclusive for the first six months after birth.

“The fact that formula milk companies are now employing even more powerful and insidious marketing techniques to drive up their sales is inexcusable and must be stopped.” Said Dr Branca.

According to experts, exclusive breastfeeding could save an estimated 800,000 children under the age of five and 20,000 mothers from breast cancer each year. However, a report by WHO found that the marketing tactics used to promote milk formula are leading to cases of overuse which in turn discourages breastfeeding.

Photo by Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz / Unsplash

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