Why we need to stop all subliminal promotions of baby formula - especially when packaged up as ‘charity’

We recently saw the subliminal promotion of baby formula (in Tanzania) on screen and shared with millions.

Baby formula has been one of the worst things that has happened to African children. Not just because extra sugar is added to the formula of African babies (compared to European babies). Formula fed babies are more prone to infections, autoimmune diseases and some cancers. Their health - particularly in developing countries such as Tanzania, is so compromised that close to 1 million formula fed babies die every year due to their formula being mixed with contaminated water leaving babies with gastro/other infections, and severe dehydration. Plus, the mothers of these formula fed babies are more at risk than breastfeeding mothers, of being diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancers.  With nearly 10% of women being diagnosed with breast cancer, that is important.

Already, by the time babies are only 22 weeks old in Tanzania, only 40% of them are exclusively breastfed. This is the long term consequence of the extraordinary damage inflicted by big formula companies during the 1970s when they dug permanent baby formula tracks, into the culture of breastfeeding. All the big formula companies back then were run by men. To promote their formulas (to make money), salespeople were dressed as nurses and advised mothers mothers that formula was better than breastmilk. Formula was widely promoted using white babies on billboards being bottle fed, to ‘set an example’, hospitals were redesigned to separate newborn babies from mothers, and the companies gave mothers free formula until their milk dried up at three weeks so that mums would have no choice but to buy formula.

Baby formula has also contributed to the degradation of our environment. Formula production is highly water-intensive, consuming vast amounts for animal hydration, crop irrigation, processing in factories and international transport. It contributes to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem strain. Globally, formula feeding for infants under six months results in the use of over 2.5 trillion litres of water and up to 7.5 billion kg CO₂ equivalent emissions annually. To explain that visually, every year, infant formula feeding uses enough water to fill 1 million Olympic swimming pools - and produces as much carbon pollution as driving 1.5 billion cars for a day.

For every can of formula, 4,000 litres of water are required to get to the end product, delivered to its destination. Thats a large water tank. And for one formula fed baby, up to 30 cans of formula are required to sustain a baby just for the first six months. So that is 120,000 litres of water required to create the processed formula for ONE baby. And thats before the unnecessary but heavily marketed toddler milk’ starts …

Product placements resulting in the subliminal endorsement of baby formula is often the work of marketing experts.

Subliminal messaging is part of a multi billion dollar strategy developed by big formula companies for the past 100 years. It started in the 1930s (just 50 years after formula was developed by German chemist, Justice Von Liebig) when big corporations started gaining traction. By the 60s, Coca Cola and other junk ‘foods’ had become entrenched in our diets. Yes. We went from squeezing oranges from backyard trees, to sugar and chemicals mixed in a factory and sold using marketing tactics like never before. Formula conglomerate Nestle worked out that if you can convince people to create a Coca Cola culture from fresh oranges, you can create a culture of processed, sugary baby formula from natural breastfeeding.

And with brilliant marketing slogans such as ‘fed is best’ and ‘formula feed for your mental health’, big formula companies have been monumentally successful.

Just over 100 years ago, almost 100% of babies were breastfed as they had been for the previous 300,000 years. With baby formula conglomerates now worth over $100 billion, the messaging is so powerful that most women, even though, when they give birth they say they want to breastfeed, most stop quickly and turn to processed formula. That is OK in wealthy countries. Because even though formula fed babies are more prone to infection, autoimmune diseases and problems with their gut biome (such as NEC for premature babies), and their mothers are more prone to breast and ovarian cancers, at least in privileged, relatively wealthy countries, the health system can mostly accommodate the long term negative ramifications of babies having been formula fed.

But in poverty stricken countries such as Tanzania where it is difficult to boil water (for 6-8 feeds every day for 6 months), baby formula is often a death sentence.

There is already so much that goes against breastfeeding mothers. Domestic violence, billions of dollars of formula marketing and the widespread rejection of breastfeeding in public.

That is why removing subliminal advertising of baby formula is essential for the long term health of babies.

None of our blogs are medical advice. For medical advice, please consult your health professional.