China to ban promotion of formula inside hospitals
Print Edition
The Chinese government will tighten rules again on makers of infant formula to promote the use of breast feeding, banning pictures of children on packaging and formula companies from promoting their wares in hospitals.
Milk powder is a highly sensitive topic in China after a 2008 scandal when melamine added to baby milk killed at least six children and thousands ill.
The incident seriously damaged consumer confidence in local firms and led to international competitors gaining market share.
International guidelines, used in China, say doctors should promote breast-feeding unless there are medical reasons not to, but new mothers are often pressured to use formula, in the belief that it is better than breast milk.
The new rules state that infant feed should bear labels promoting the use of breast feeding and have no pictures of children, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday, citing a notice from the food and drug watchdog, health ministry and State Administration of Industry and Commerce.
Hospitals and other medical facilities cannot accept gifts or inducements from formula companies, which cannot push their products inside the hospital, it said. Violators will face punishment.
State television last month said Danone SA had bribed hospital staff to give its milk powder to newborn babies, allegations which the French group investigated immediately.
China is a magnet for foreign infant milk formula makers, with the US$12.4 billion market expected to double by 2017. But foreign firms have come under pressure amid a crackdown on pricing and as authorities look to consolidate the dairy sector and promote breast feeding.
In August, the National Development and Reform Commission fined a group of milk powder producers, including Danone, a total of US$110 million for price-fixing.
Meiji, Nestle and Zhejiang Beingmate Scientific Technology Industry and Trade Co were also implicated, but escaped punishment for cooperating with the investigation. Japan’s Meiji said last week it would pull out of market, the first international firm to do so following the pricing crackdown.
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