Eight Baby Formula Companies Censured For Contravening Code Of Ethics

JOHOR BAHARU, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- Eight of 12 multinational companies marketing instant baby formulas in the country have been censured for contravening ethics governing their sale, said Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek.
He said that the companies were censured after it was found that they had violated the ethics on at least three occasions and among the actions that had been taken was barring them from advertising their products for a year.
"The companies had been found disseminating inaccurate information in their promotional campaigns to entice mothers to buy their products, which they claimed were endorsed by medical specialists," he told reporters after launching the Asean Paediatric Surgery Congress and the 28th Malaysia Paediatric Association's Scientific Congress here Friday.
"It they continue to flout the rules, their names will be published in the print media. We have not resorted to that action yet," he said, adding this would be better than slapping them with paltry fines.
Arguing that breast feeding was still the best option for babies' growth and development, he said the ministry's statistic had shown that about 29 per cent of breastfeeding mothers did it until their babies were six months old while the rest for only a week or at the most a month after the baby was born.