ID Number: 25628
Maker: Infant Formula Action Coalition (INFACT); Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Technique: offset
Date Made: late 1970s
Place Made: New York
Measurements: 58 cm x 43 cm; 22 13/16 in x 16 15/16 in
Main Subject: Health; Children; Corporations
Materials: Paper (fiber product)
Digitized: Y

Full Text:
Profits are up...so is infant malnutrition For more information contact: Infant Formula Program Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility 475 Riverside Drive, Room 566 212/870-2750 National INFACT 1701 University Ave. SE Minneapolis, MN 55414 612/231-2333

Acquisition Number: 2005-036
Production Notes: see notepad for annotation; same annotation as for 5257

Copyright Status:
Copyright status unknown; may be protected by copyright law.

Exhibition Annotation:
Nestlé Boycott Every 30 seconds a baby dies from unsafe bottle feeding. Each year ten million infants suffer from severe diarrhea, malnutrition and disease because they are not breastfed. Over one million of them die, while those who survive often suffer permanent physical and mental damage. From 1977-1984 an international boycott against Nestlé Products was organized to protest the promotion and sale of infant baby formula to developing nations. Mothers were told that formula was better than breast milk, and sufficient "free samples" were given to last until the new mothers' own milk dried up. Due to lack of sanitation, high illiteracy rates and poverty, the necessary preparation conditions and adequate quantity of formula were rarely available. The boycott was the largest non-union consumer boycott in history, targeting Swiss-based Nestlé which has 50% of the market share of the infant formula industry. The boycott was reinstated in 1988 when Nestlé and others broke their promise to abide by the World Health Organization, and is still in effect. The problem is no longer limited to developing nations. It is a pressing issue in the United States as well, with welfare families spending as much as 39 percent of their low income on formula.