by Katie Allison Granju

During the 1970s and early 1980s, many Americans were shocked at television images of severely malnourished "bottle-babies" from various third-world nations, as consumer advocacy groups alerted citizens for the first time to the marketing practices being employed abroad by infant formula manufacturers. These advocacy groups described how physicians and other health care providers in the developing world were being bribed by formula manufacturers to steer patients away from breastfeeding and toward particular brands of artificial breastmilk substitutes. Age old cultural norms of exclusive and extended breastfeeding were disrupted, as subtly effective advertising campaigns convinced women that commercial infant formula was the "modern," "sterile," "western" way to feed their babies.

New mothers were lured into giving birth in hospitals funded by infant formula manufacturers. Once there, these women were encouraged to offer their newborns bottles of formula. Mothers and babies were then sent home with a small "free" sample of the infant formula. By the time the supply ran out, the baby was refusing the breast, the mother's own milk supply was diminished, and the typical, impoverished family was unable to pay for any more infant formula. These practices, combined with an unsanitary water supply, lack of sterilization and refrigeration facilities, and poor access to medical care, have conspired to kill millions of third-world babies each year, according to the WHO and UNICEF.

In 1977, a worldwide boycott was launched against Nestle Corporation, determined to be the most egregiously unethical actor in this sad drama. Consumers all over the world stopped purchasing Nestle products, and WHO convened a meeting to discuss what could be done to influence corporations marketing infant formula to end their fatal practice. At this time, the acting World Health Director stated that, "In my opinion, the campaign against bottle-feed advertising is unbelievable more important than the fight against smoking advertisements."

WHO subsequently drafted the International Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes ("The WHO Code"). The Code's main points call for no advertising of infant formula or bottles directly to the public, and for the distribution by health care workers of factual, ethical information to parents.

WHO intended for the Code to apply to all nations, including the United States. While the rest of the world signed onto the Code in the early 1980s, the United States withheld its support until 1994. Today, infant formula manufacturers opening flout the Code in the United States (check out the ads in any parenting magazine for clear evidence) and around the world. For this reason, the Nestle boycott was relaunched in 1988 and continues to this day.