Nestlé's public relations machine exposed

This brief critically examines Nestlé’s baby food marketing. It argues that instead of making changes required to bring its practices fully into line with international marketing standards, Nestlé invests heavily in Public Relations (PR) initiatives intended to divert criticism.

The paper argues that:

• the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) finds Nestlé to be the largest single source of violations of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant World Health Assembly Resolutions worldwide
• Nestlé’s strategy is to admit to malpractice only years in the past, even though it denied it at the time
• a favoured tactic is promotion through the health care system, which makes it seem as if Nestlé has the endorsement of health workers
• some of Nestlé’s promotion leaflets contain misleading information, and are dominated by bright pictures rather than scientific information
• Nestlé does not adequately respond to monitoring of violations
• Nestlé own Instructions on implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes differs to the provisions made by the code itself.