International Code (BMS)

International Code of

Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes

JOURNAL PAPER

VIOLATIONS OF VIETNAMESE LAWS RELATED TO THE ONLINE MARKETING OF BREASTMILK SUBSTITUTES: DETECTIONS USING A VIRTUAL VIOLATIONS DETECTOR

Key messages

We present the first ever artificial intelligence-enabled system for improving the implementation of national laws related to the digital marketing of commercial milk formulas (CMF).
Using Vietnam to apply the system, we detected more than 3000 online advertisements that violated or contradicted the intent of current Vietnamese laws over a 12-month period.
Our findings demonstrate the need to strengthen the design, monitoring and enforcement of existing Vietnamese laws to eliminate mothers' exposure to the exploitative digital marketing of CMF.
These findings should be considered by the Vietnamese Government as they review Advertising and Food Safety Laws.
The virtual violations detector can be applied worldwide to help governments hold the industry accountable for the inappropriate digital marketing of CMF.

Read Paper

VIRTUAL VIOLATIONS DETECTOR (VIVID)

FINDINGS BRIEF: AUSTRALIA

September 2023

View Report

Since its launch in October 2022 until October 2023, VIVID has detected close to 30,000 Code violations mainly from Facebook, Instagram, and company websites. A findings brief on Australia was developed based on data made available from VIVID (Virtual Violations Detector) from October 2022 to August 2023. Close to 3800 entries have been captured, and some major themes have emerged. In September 2023, members of the civil society in Australia, including infant and young child nutrition advocates such as the Australian Breastfeeding Association and the Australia National University, met with parliament members, and used findings in the brief to advocate for legal measures to restrict the rampant marketing. Read the report to find out more details.

CATCH CHATS

Our CATCH CHATS series feature David Clark, former UNICEF Legal Specialist and currently a Public Health and Human Rights Law Specialist, and Katherine Shats, UNICEF Legal Specialist.

These two global Code experts are joined by Constance Ching, Social Change Innovator and Code Consultant, for a deep-dive on Code implementation, monitoring, and ways to tackle digital marketing.

CATCH CHATS with

David Clark

The World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes in 1981 to restrict marketing that undermines breastfeeding and optimal infant feeding practices. Subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions have been adopted to address evolving health recommendations and rapidly-changing marketing practices. Four decades later, predatory marketing is still a major barrier to improving breastfeeding. Inadequate breastfeeding according to WHO recommendations results in annual global health, human capital and economic costs of approximately:

$507B total economic cost (0.6% of global income)

$23.94B in health system costs

195M IQ points lost

4.6M child obesity cases

93,863 maternal deaths

424249 child deaths

CATCH is a connector hub that supports national Code monitoring and enforcement, advocacy, public knowledge, and research. By showing how companies are violating the Code, it is also a useful too for those interested in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) analysis and ethical investment. The three main features are: