The Nestle Baby Formula Scandal: The Darkest Chapter in Corporate History
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the controversial marketing practices of Nestlé in the 1970s and beyond, focusing on their aggressive promotion of infant formula in low-income countries. It details how Nestlé's tactics, including misleading advertising, provision of free samples, and hospital infiltration, contributed to a significant increase in infant mortality rates due to improper formula preparation and use. Despite the introduction of the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes, the video suggests that Nestlé has not fully adhered to these guidelines, with ongoing reports of unethical marketing strategies.
Takeaways
- 🎮 War Thunder is a free-to-play military vehicle combat game available on multiple platforms.
- 🔍 The game features over 2,000 historically accurate tanks, helicopters, ships, and other vehicles from the 20th century.
- 🎯 It offers a realistic physics engine and immersive gaming experience with historical campaigns.
- 🎧 For a casual experience, quick arcade games are available without the need for deep engagement.
- 🎁 New players get a free premium tank, aircraft, or ship and three days of premium play through a sponsored link.
- 🤱 Nestlé has been linked to infant formula marketing practices that may have contributed to infant mortality in low-income countries.
- 📉 A study estimated that Nestlé's marketing in 1981 alone resulted in 66,000 deaths due to infant formula use.
- 🌐 Nestlé's aggressive marketing in Africa, Asia, and South America involved creating a need for their product where it wasn't necessarily required.
- 🏥 They used tactics like fearmongering, providing free samples, and influencing hospital practices to promote their formula.
- 👩⚕️ 'Milk nurses' dressed as medical staff were used to distribute free samples and influence new mothers against breastfeeding.
- 🚫 Despite the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes, Nestlé has been accused of continuing unethical marketing practices.
Q & A
What is War Thunder and on which platforms is it available?
-War Thunder is a realistic free-to-play military vehicle combat game available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and previous generations of consoles.
How many historically accurate vehicles are featured in War Thunder?
-War Thunder features more than 2,000 historically accurate tanks, helicopters, ships, and other vehicles.
What kind of gaming experiences does War Thunder offer?
-War Thunder offers immersive gaming experiences with real historical campaigns, quick arcade games for casual play, realistic and tactical gameplay for more challenging scenarios, and simulator mode for hardcore players.
What is the estimated mortality resulting from Nestle's marketing of infant formula in low-income countries in 1981 alone?
-The mortality resulting from Nestle's marketing of infant formula in low-income countries in 1981 alone was estimated to be 66,000.
What was the impact of Nestle's marketing strategy on breastfeeding rates post-World War II?
-The post-World War II baby boom led to a significant drop in breastfeeding rates by half, with sales of infant formula peaking in 1957.
What strategies did Nestle employ to create a need for infant formula in low-income countries?
-Nestle employed strategies such as creating fear through misleading advertisements, providing free samples, targeting doctors and hospitals, and manipulating hospital designs to make breastfeeding more difficult.
What was the role of 'milk nurses' in Nestle's marketing strategy?
-Milk nurses, who were often untrained sales team members dressed in medical uniforms, were used to give free samples and gifts to new mothers in hospitals, aiming to prevent early breastfeeding and create dependency on formula.
What health risks did the use of infant formula pose to babies in low-income countries?
-The use of infant formula posed significant health risks, including bacterial contamination, malnourishment, increased vulnerability to infections, and higher mortality rates, especially when mixed with unclean water or diluted to stretch supplies.
What international response was there to the unethical marketing practices of infant formula companies like Nestle?
-The World Health Organization and UNICEF created the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes in 1981 to regulate the marketing practices of infant formula companies.
What was the outcome of Nestle's lawsuit against the group that published 'Nestle Kills Babies'?
-Nestle initially sued for 5 million in damages but later withdrew all complaints except for the title 'Nestle Kills Babies'. The judge sided with Nestle on the title claim, but warned them to modify their publicity methods.
How has Nestle's adherence to the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes been reported in recent years?
-Despite agreeing to follow the code, Nestle has been reported to have failed to meet its standards in multiple instances, with ongoing issues such as misleading labels, inappropriate ingredients, and continued advertising for products designed for babies under six months old.
Outlines
🎮 War Thunder Sponsorship and Gameplay Overview
The video is sponsored by War Thunder, a free-to-play military vehicle combat game available on multiple platforms. It features over 2,000 historically accurate vehicles, including tanks, helicopters, and ships, from the 20th century. These operate within a realistic physics engine, offering immersive gaming experiences. Players can engage in quick arcade games for casual play or delve into more challenging realistic and simulator modes. The sponsor offers a free premium tank, aircraft, or ship, along with three days of premium play for new players who sign up through the provided link.
🤱 The Dark History of Nestle's Infant Formula Marketing
The script discusses the negative impact of Nestle's marketing practices for infant formula in low-income countries. It details how Nestle's aggressive marketing, which included providing free samples and misleading advertisements, contributed to a significant number of infant deaths due to improper use of formula under unsuitable conditions. The company's tactics involved creating a need for their product where it was not required, using fear-based advertising, and targeting hospitals to distribute free samples. These practices led to a decrease in breastfeeding rates and an increase in infant mortality, with estimates ranging from 800,000 to 1.5 million child deaths per year.
👶 Unethical Marketing and Its Deadly Consequences
This paragraph delves deeper into Nestle's unethical marketing strategies, which included creating a need for infant formula by instilling fear in new mothers, interrupting the natural breastfeeding process, and manipulating hospital practices to favor formula feeding. It also discusses the company's use of 'milk nurses' dressed in medical uniforms to deceive mothers into believing their advice was medically sound. The consequences of these actions were tragic, with many babies suffering from malnourishment and diseases like marasmus and kwashiorkor, leading to increased infant mortality rates.
🛑 The Fight Against Nestle's Unethical Practices
The final paragraph covers the public and political response to Nestle's marketing practices, including the launch of a boycott and the creation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes by the WHO and UNICEF. Despite these efforts, Nestle has been accused of only partially complying with the code, with ongoing issues such as misleading labeling and continued promotion of unnecessary follow-on milks. The narrative highlights the ongoing struggle to hold Nestle accountable for its impact on infant health and the importance of breastfeeding.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡War Thunder
💡Infant Formula
💡Nestlé
💡Breastfeeding
💡Milk Nurses
💡Baby Bottle Disease
💡Merasmus
💡International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes
💡Senator Edward Kennedy
💡Tigers (2014 film)
Highlights
War Thunder is a realistic free-to-play military vehicle combat game available on multiple platforms.
The game features over 2,000 historically accurate tanks, helicopters, ships, and other vehicles.
Vehicles operate in a realistic physics engine for an immersive gaming experience.
Players can enjoy historical campaigns or quick arcade games depending on their time availability.
For those with more time, the game offers realistic and simulator modes for a challenging tactical experience.
War Thunder has 50 million worldwide players, offering a community for various playstyles.
Sponsored link provides a free premium tank, aircraft, or ship, plus three days of premium play for new players.
Nestle's marketing of infant formula in low-income countries has been linked to an estimated 66,000 deaths in 1981 alone.
Nestle's practices have been accused of contributing to up to 1.5 million child deaths per year due to bottle feeding in unsuitable conditions.
The company targeted low-income countries with aggressive marketing campaigns in the 1970s.
Nestle used fear-based advertising to discourage breastfeeding and promote their infant formula.
The company provided free samples and gifts to medical professionals to endorse their product.
Nestle's marketing strategies included creating a need for their product where it was not required.
The company's practices led to a boycott against Nestle and all of its products, which continues to this day.
Despite the international code of marketing of breast milk substitutes, Nestle has been accused of not fully complying with its standards.
Investigations have revealed that Nestle's practices still fall short in many areas, including misleading advertising and improper product labeling.
The company has been criticized for continuing to use unethical marketing practices even after being exposed.
Nestle's actions have had a significant impact on infant mortality rates and public health in low-income countries.
Transcripts
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thank you for watching how many babies
would you say a company would have to
kill before people would stop buying
their products if your answer is
anything over one i'm concerned for you
but you're not wrong now i can't say
nestle has directly killed hundreds or
thousands of babies what i can say is
that a study by the national bureau of
economic research estimates that in 1981
alone the mortality resulting from
nestle's marketing of infant formula in
low-income countries was 66
000 and they've been pricing it non-stop
since the 1970s today estimates range
from 800 000 to 1.5 million child deaths
a year as a result of bottle feeding in
unsuitable conditions otherwise known as
the locations where nestle and were
thrown and allegedly here has pushed
their formula with fake nurses
misleading adds and slogans like
lactogen is the very best milk for your
baby you know unlike the sterile
convenient and free breast milk that
mothers were already using
the post world war ii baby boom was a
dream for infant formula companies more
babies meant more customers
breastfeeding rates had dropped by half
and sales peaked in 1957. however this
kind of growth couldn't last forever in
the 1960s saw a falling birth rate and a
return to breastfeeding with record
profits to maintain and shareholders to
satisfy formula companies needed more
babies and more mothers who needed
formula the obvious answer was to look
for new customers in lower income
countries but there was a problem only
between one and five percent of women
were unable to breastfeed so very few
required infant formula this was made
even trickier by the fact that low wages
meant bottle-feeding their babies would
use up around 40 of their income when
presented with these issues it'd be nice
to think that most companies would just
simply give up not only was there no
need for the product convincing mothers
to buy it for their babies would
probably mean there'd be no money left
to feed themselves
this pesky moral dilemma though didn't
stand in the way of nestle where a new
market could be found profit could be
made so in the 1970s formula and ad
campaigns flooded into africa asia and
south america
[Music]
breaking into the markets was easy all
nestle had to do was follow these simple
steps create a need convince customers
that their product is required to
achieve the good life link their product
to desirable and unobtainable concepts
and most importantly
provide a free sample creating a
positive image of infant formula was
easy billboards were erected ads were
run in papers and posters were plastered
around hospitals with images of a
healthy chubby baby sitting next to a
tub of powdered formula racism played a
huge part in the strategy the babies
were almost always white with the
implication being that all the
fashionable western women were
bottle-feeding their babies so
you should too the real challenge lay in
creating the need though how could they
as an infant milk company sabotage the
breast-feeding efforts of millions of
women in multiple countries the answer
was fear nestle knew that stress and
anxiety could reduce if not stop
lactation altogether and if they could
do that they'd have their customers
locked in so how do you scare a bunch of
new mothers enough to prevent them from
being able to feed their babies some
tips were subtle implying breastfeeding
would lead to your breasts sagging
prevent you from working and make you
look poor and uncivilized others ditched
all attempts at subtlety nestle
advertised lactogen in africa for use
when breast milk fails and one of their
most famous ads featured the claim don't
wait too long to wean your baby if you
do the little one is likely to be weak
and anemic borden klim produced a radio
jignal that went the child is going to
die because the mother's breast is given
out mama oh mama the child cries if you
want your child to get well
give it klim milk this fear acted as a
confidence trick inhibiting the let down
reflex and causing women's milk supplies
to dry up
[Music]
while this ability to manipulate demand
for their product was a neat ploy nestle
went one step further and decided to
mess with the physiology directly you
see another handy feature of breast milk
is that it stops being produced pretty
quickly when it's no longer needed
nestle realized that if you could
interrupt the first days of a newborn
mother breast feeding their baby they'd
find it incredibly difficult to restart
their milk supply and essentially be
hooked on the product all nestle needed
was to get them to try a free sample to
do this they had to get into hospitals
and delivery centers and capture their
customers in the first few hours after
birth doctors and physicians were
targeted nestle sent gifts notepads and
pens anything the doctor would use in
front of the patients that would
indicate their endorsement of the
product doctors with newborns were
supplied with a year's supplier-free
formula so other mothers would be
convinced of its superiority hospitals
too were flooded with free samples so
that formula could be used straight away
in the event of any issues captive
physicians were also quick to recommend
it even in the absence of breastfeeding
problems one stubborn doctor who refused
to recommend formula to his patients was
even sent a cake on new year i'm not
sure why anyone essay thought a cake
would be a sufficient indictment to
convince a doctor to recommend a product
that would triple the mortality rate of
his patients but
well they tried it anyway another less
obvious and more insidious strategy is
the role formula companies took in
hospital design by providing free
architectural services the companies
could manipulate the layout of maternity
units to physically separate newborns
from their mothers and make
breastfeeding more difficult infant
mortality company abbe laboratories
helped design 200 maternity departments
in a year in the u.s alone if you've
ever wondered why the nursery seemed
such a long walk from the mother's room
check you designed it and you might get
an answer
[Music]
if all of this wasn't enough nestle had
one more trick up their sleeve milk
nurses they'd dress their sales team up
in medical uniforms and send them into
hospitals to ambush new mothers there
these were largely untrained women and
that set up shop on maternity wards to
give free samples and gifts to the new
mums at one time nestle had 5000 of
these so-called mothercraft advisors
distributed around hospitals in
low-income countries the mothers they
advised had no clue they weren't medical
professionals and so they accepted their
recommendations in the same way they
would adopt her their goal was to get
free samples into the babies this would
prevent early breastfeeding and
therefore cause milk supplies to dry up
when mothers left the hospitals the
formula was no longer free breastfeeding
was no longer an option and they'd be
hooked into spending nearly half the
family income to feed their baby it was
such an effective strategy the competing
companies started using it too and they
didn't even stop after it was banned
milk nurses who were often paid
commission on top of their wage found
ways around it in singapore dumex nurses
would wait outside hospitals and give
mothers free samples on the way home in
jamaica bristol meyer's nurses would
sneak into maternity centers copy the
names and addresses of new parents and
visit them at home and in the
philippines that walk around the public
housing projects looking for baby
clothes on the washing lines and then
just knock on the door
[Music]
while directing shady advertising
practices at new mums is already pretty
morally bad it's the impact of the
strategy where the real tragedy lies
it's true
that there was nothing technically wrong
with the formula and millions of babies
living in high-income countries thrived
on it the women being targeted by nestle
in the 70s however were not in a
position to benefit from the product in
fact they were in a position where the
use of the product carried a significant
risk of death to their baby through what
the doctors who witnessed it would call
baby bottle disease you see formula
works great when it's prepared with
clean boiled water and given in a
sterilized bottle the west african
mothers being sent home with a formula
dependent baby were cooking in a
three-sided stone kitchen that's a
campfire which uses three stones to
support a cooking pot there's no way
there'd be lighting a fire boiling a pot
and sterilizing a bottle every time
their baby needed a feed one study found
that 80 of the bottles they examined had
high levels of bacterial contamination
there was also the added issue of lack
of access to clean water many of the
communities targeted by nestle relied on
dirty surface water that housed harmful
bacteria mixing it with the milk carter
did nothing to make it any safer another
issue was price nestle had no business
hooking mothers who couldn't afford to
buy formula the obvious consequence is
that mothers wouldn't be able to afford
enough tins to get through the month so
they'd try to stretch the powder by
diluting it with extra water one 1969
study in barbados found that 82 percent
of mothers were stretching a four-day
supply formula to last anywhere from
five days to three weeks
babies drinking the diluted bottles
often fell into a chronic malnourished
state known as merasmus in some african
hospitals it was nicknamed lactogen
syndrome after nestle's lactogen powered
an infant formula in other cases mothers
would add cornstarch or sugar water to
make the formula last longer this led to
another form of malnourishment known as
quashiorkor this is a nutritional
disease resulting from a combination of
protein deficiency and excess
consumption of carbohydrates this is the
condition responsible for the shockingly
bloated stomach seen in many cases of
hunger and famine a study in sao paulo
found that 32 of bottle-fed babies ended
up suffering from malnourishment and had
to be hospitalized unfortunately
malnourishment isn't an easy thing to
reverse those who recover often suffer
permanent effects as they've been
starved during a crucial period of brain
growth many never recover once a baby
becomes underweight they become more
vulnerable to infections and diarrhoea
this in turn reduces a baby's ability to
absorb nutrients and could ultimately
result in death a bottle-fed baby living
in unhygienic conditions is 25 times
more likely to die of diarrhea and four
times more likely to die of pneumonia
than a breast-fed baby and a baby dies
every 30 seconds as a result of unsafe
bottle feeding of course nestle argued
that it was misuse of their product and
not the product itself that was causing
the deaths but they made it very
difficult for mothers to use it
correctly labels and instructions were
nearly always written in english and
very rarely in the language of the
country where they were being sold plus
many of their customers were illiterate
and the small line drawings on the din
were rarely detailed enough they
couldn't get across the very real
consequences of skipping sterilization
or stretching the powder when you
consider that they were marketing their
formula in jamaica where the average
income was only seven dollars a week
malawi where even in the capital city
only 34 percent had access to
hand-washing facilities and that unicef
estimated the cost of formula to feed a
baby in africa at 50 to 140 of the
average income it seems obvious that
profits were being put before people
profits were soaring but so was the
infant mortality rate new
internationalists were the first to shed
light on nestles and moral practices in
their august 1973 issue the baby food
tragedy and a war on want investigation
entitled the baby killer which was
published a year later in 1974. each of
these pieces highlighted the tragedies
that were taking place as a result of
nestle forcing its way into low-income
markets the company felt wrongfully
attacked and in 1975 two representatives
were sent to the pediatric ward at
university hospital in nairobi kenya
they were looking for a clear defense
against what they believed to be
unsubstantiated defamations however as
they entered the ward full of infants
who were exclusively nestle fed since
birth one of the babies collapsed the
doctor they'd come to see tried
desperately to save the child but it
died right in front of the two nestle
representatives they left without a word
sadly so did the mother who still
carried a tin of nestle formula in a bag
despite this harrowing event nestle
still felt they had a leg to stand on
when the baby killer article emerged
again this time translated by the third
world action group based in switzerland
who'd changed the title to nestle kills
babies as with the original the article
claimed that nestle staff were posing as
medical personnel and that their
marketing practices were leading to
infant deaths nestle originally
attempted to sue for 5 million in
damages but as the case progressed they
realized that the group was uncovering a
large amount of damaging evidence so at
the last minute they withdrew all
complaints except for the title of
nestle kills babies the judge sided with
a formula company as the group couldn't
prove that nestle had intentionally
killed any babies fortunately it was
clear to the judge that the marketing
practices were unethical so the group
were only fined a token sum of 400
instead of 5 million pounds
nestle was warned that the result wasn't
an acquittal of them and they must
modify their publicity methods
[Music]
by 1977 public disapproval had grown to
the point of protests and in fact infant
formula action coalition launched a
boycott against nestle and all of its
products a boycott that continues to
this day by the way unfortunately this
wasn't enough to make nestle change
their way so in 1978 senator edward
kennedy took the marketing of baby
formula to the senate this prompted the
who and the united nations children's
fund to step up and create what would
become the international code of
marketing of breast milk substitutes in
1981 also known as the code the code
prohibits formula companies from
promoting products in hospitals giving
free samples giving gifts to medical
professionals giving misleading
information promoting products designed
for babies under six months old and
using misleading images or text the
label must also be written in a language
that could be understood by the parents
and must include a prominent health
warning
the code while comprehensive was
ultimately voluntary so did nestle
choose to meet it well initially they
agreed and even stated on their website
that they would follow both the letter
and the spirit of the code unfortunately
they still haven't managed it the 2014
film tigers tells the story of syed amir
raza hussain a former pharmaceutical
salesman who worked for nestle visiting
hospitals in pakistan between 1994 and
1997. he resigned when he saw a baby die
of diarrhea and dehydration as a result
of bottle feeding with the product that
he was there to sell unfortunately his
attempt to blow the whistle and end
their practices with his report milking
profits resulted in bribes and threats
and he ended up having to flee the
country and leave his young family
behind several other investigations have
since taken place and exposed multiple
instances where nestle's practices were
failing to meet the standards they
claimed to follow multiple products were
discovered with labels written in a
non-native language and some labels had
instructions in an appropriate language
but warning's only written in english
other countries found issues with the
ingredients themselves for example
nestle's product labels in brazil and
hong kong advise against giving sucrose
to babies but their south african milks
contain it other nestle formulas came to
be healthy as they don't contain vanilla
flavoring but then the milk powders in
china and south africa contain vanillin
compounds nestle has also gotten around
the ban on advertising for under six
months old by introducing stage two and
follow-on milks these are milks designed
for older children but have been deemed
unnecessary by medical professionals
instead of providing a vital supplement
to a child's diet what they actually do
is allow nestle to advertise their
products with almost identical packaging
to their first infant formulas worldwide
private doctors in bangladesh have also
claimed to still be receiving monthly
visits from nestle representatives this
is a country where according to save the
children 314 infant deaths could be
prevented every day if breastfeeding
rates improved that's a cut in infant
mortality of almost a third overall they
now stick to approximately 57 of the
code picking and choosing the bits they
like of course the wording on their
website has now been changed to raising
awareness throughout our value chain on
the importance of the international code
of marketing of breast milk substitutes
to well to cover their backs
allegedly 57 might not sound too bad
until you realize about the other 43 and
where you could draw your own
conclusions there
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