Image Source: Geneva Solutions
South Africa – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have warned that milk companies exploit South African parents through aggressive and unethical marketing.
Leading parenting influencers nationwide have rallied behind the campaign, amplifying the call for greater accountability.
In a joint manifesto titled “Babies Before Bottom Lines,” WHO and UNICEF accused the infant formula industry of using “predatory and pervasive practices” to mislead families for profit.
They said companies flood parents with misinformation, emotional manipulation, and pseudo-scientific claims to drive sales.
Dr Laurence Grummer-Strawn, who leads WHO’s infant and young child feeding work, added that companies “use digital marketing algorithms that exploit parents when they are most vulnerable,” describing the practice as “wrong and needing to stop immediately.”
“They capitalise on parents’ doubts and questions. For instance, we see advertisers directing fake science at caregivers in the middle of the night, when they or their babies are struggling, to falsely convince them that bottle-fed babies sleep better than breastfed babies,” he said.
Shenaaz El-Halabi, WHO’s Country Representative in South Africa, stressed that “false, incomplete, misleading health and nutrition claims by formula companies should stop now,” warning that many brands “present incomplete scientific evidence and infer unsupported health outcomes.”
Call for Stronger Regulation of Digital Marketing
In response, the organisations urged government authorities to urgently update the outdated Regulations Relating to Foodstuffs for Infants and Young Children (R991), arguing that existing laws do not go far enough to curb digital marketing abuses.
They warned that companies often target parents during vulnerable moments, such as late-night feedings, with adverts falsely suggesting that bottle-fed babies sleep better than breastfed babies.
WHO and UNICEF noted that “inappropriate promotion of breastmilk substitutes negatively impacts breastfeeding practices” and creates “a false choice between breastfeeding and formula feeding” without giving parents full, evidence-based information.
Government Efforts Commended but Gaps Remain
Christine Muhigana, UNICEF’s South Africa Representative, commended the efforts made by government and civil society partners but said much more needs to be done.
“This Manifesto is part of a broader effort to expose these unfair practices so that mothers and caregivers are fully aware of unethical marketing practices,” she said.
WHO and UNICEF are calling on the public to join them in demanding an end to unethical formula milk marketing and to “choose babies before bottom lines.”
