Why do South African moms prefer commercial milk formula even though the rest of the world knows breast milk is better? It comes down to the baby formula companies’ exploitative marketing playbook.

Economic and political power of dominant formula companies

The 2023 Lancet Series on Breastfeeding, which includes three papers launched in South Africa on February 10th and in the UK on February 8th, has revealed the reasons behind South African mothers’ preference for commercial milk formula over breast milk. The series investigates the exploitative marketing tactics used by baby formula companies and the commercial formula lobby, which has resulted in millions of women not following the recommended guidelines for breastfeeding.

The series highlights the economic and political power of the dominant formula companies and the public policy failures that allow them to exploit women. It also reveals how the profits generated by the formula milk industry mostly benefit companies in high-income countries, while the social, economic, and environmental harm is widely distributed, particularly in low- and middle-income countries like South Africa.

Taking advantage of parental worries

The series explains how formula companies take advantage of parents’ worries about their child’s health and development by using misleading marketing tactics, such as suggesting that their products provide solutions to common infant health and developmental challenges. The series also notes that these marketing techniques violate the 1981 World Health Organization International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, which prohibits the idealization of formula and the use of false information to sell products.

The series also sheds light on the formula industry’s establishment of a network of trade associations and front groups that lobby against the Code and other breastfeeding protection measures. This lobbying has allowed formula companies to project an image of benevolence and corporate social responsibility, while their self-regulation falls far short of compliance with the Code.

To effectively support women who want to breastfeed, the series calls for broader actions across workplaces, healthcare, governments, and communities, as well as stronger monitoring and enforcement of regulations to control the marketing of formula milk for children. The authors also call for an international legal treaty to end exploitative formula milk marketing and political lobbying, as well as better training for the healthcare workforce and more effective promotion, support, and protection for breastfeeding.

In conclusion, the series stresses that breastfeeding is a collective responsibility of society and that all information received on infant feeding must be accurate and free from industry influence to ensure informed decision making.