The WHO Code and Why we need it?

WARNING: This content contains distressing information and images of infants and children who have not been breastfed due to infant formula marketing practices globally.

Since the 1970s, global concern about the marketing tactics of infant formula manufacturers has led to action to regulate the industry.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF adopted the International Code on Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in 1981. More than 40 years later, some countries have fully embraced the Code in Law, while others- most significantly the US - have refused to implement the Code in any way: one of just four countries globally. You can see the most recent list of compliance by country here

In those countries who have taken action to reduce the impact of formula marketing, increases in rates of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months and continued breastfeeding for two years and beyond have resulted. You can see the current data here

The impact of infant formula in developing countries in the 1970s gained global attention, leading to an ongoing boycott of Nestle products. The horrific circumstances of intentionally contaminated infant formula products in China in the early 2000s drove families to source formula from countries outside China. More recently, in the USA, formula shortages due to contamination highlighted the vulnerability of families coerced into feeding their babies formula in the belief it was superior to breastfeeding.

In 2018, the US opposed a resolution to encourage breast-feeding, which was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered in Geneva for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly. The conflict between industry and health is clear: when babies are exclusively breastfed, the dairy and formula industries behind the brands lose potential customers. US$55 BILLION dollars are spent every year promoting the use of formula products.

Read more: How the Formula Industry Fooled the World