Saturday
Oct032009
Follow-up questions for Nestle
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Last week a group of mom and dad bloggers were invited on an all-expenses paid trip to Nestle (see background info here if you are new to this issue). Some of the bloggers took some questions and concerns of their own, of mine, of our community and raised them with Nestle. While some of them may have genuinely felt that Nestle listening and while some of them may have been satisfied with the answers given, many of us maintain that the responses from Nestle are typical corporate doublespeak .
As one of the main instigators of the protest against this event, Nestle indicated willingness to speak to me on the phone. In the interest of transparency (on both sides) and to eliminate any risk of "he said, she said" confusion, I decided that I would prefer to send my questions to Nestle in writing. Nestle indicated that questions could be sent via email to nestlefamilyinfo@casupport.com.
Here are my questions, which I am also submitting via e-mail. I will post the responses on my blog when/if I receive them.
Questions for Nestle
1. When meeting with bloggers, you characterized your 1-800-4Gerber line as a breastfeeding support line. Is that number just for breastfeeding support? If not, what is the scope of that phone line? ANSWER HERE
2. What are the qualifications of the staff that work on your 1-800-4Gerber help line? What percentage of them are International Board Certified Lactation Consultants? ANSWER HERE
3. Do you have any statistics on your 1-800-4Gerber help line? (e.g. how many calls? nature of questions asked? recommendations given?) ANSWER HERE
4. You say that you comply with the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes in all countries that have adopted the code. Canada is a signatory to the Code and the Canadian government actively encourages companies to comply with it. However, despite Canada being a signatory to the Code, you do not comply with the code in Canada. When you say "adopted" is it fair to assume then that you mean "legislated" and that you will not comply with a developed country's will unless it puts regulations in place to force you to? ANSWER HERE
5. You mention that "The WHO Code will only truly succeed if governments enforce it and monitor its compliance". When a country is considering changing its legislation to include provisions contained in the WHO Code does Nestle lobby against those changes through formal or informal consultation processes? ANSWER HERE
6. You say that you do not market formula in developing countries. and you also say that you have unilaterally applied the WHO Code in all developing countries and regions. Please:
7. Does any Nestle formula packaging in any nation make claims that the formula offers protection or protects the baby against diarrhea or any other ailment? ANSWER HERE
8. You maintain that "Nestle does not provide mothers in the developing world with free samples of your infant formula products - in fact Nestle has no contact at all with mothers with regards to these". Are samples provided to doctors? Is information about the "benefits" of your formula provided to doctors or other health professionals? ANSWER HERE
9. You indicate that you have regular audits on a worldwide basis of your marketing practices relating to infant formula. Do you have any public audit reports and/or statistics that you can share? How do your internal reports compare, for example, with the reports of IBFAN? ANSWER HERE
10. Your Nestle Instructions for Implementation of the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes includes a Complaint Form in Annex 3. How many complaint forms are received annually? Do you have any statistics or reports on the nature and geographic location of the violations reported? ANSWER HERE
11. You indicate that "Nestle complementary foods are not marketed or presented as breast-milk substitutes" and that you support the May 2001 WHA Resolution that changed the recommended duration of exclusive breastfeeding from 4-6 months to 6 months. Given your support in this regard does this mean that you do not market any food/drink products at all for the use by infants under 6 months of age in any country and that none of your labels for cereal or baby food indicates that it can be used starting at 4 months? ANSWER HERE
12. In discussions with the bloggers, your CEO mentioned that children died in the 1970s as a result of the misuse (wrong quantity, mixed with dirty water) of formula samples. Do you believe that deaths from the misuse of formula samples ended in the 1970s? ANSWER HERE
13. Why did your CEO tell bloggers at the Nestle Family event that the boycott ended in 1986? The boycott in fact ended in 1984, but was reinstated in 1988 because Nestle did not live up to the promises it made. The boycott is is still active today. Please explain why you would attempt to mislead the bloggers about the status of the boycott. ANSWER HERE
14. What concrete steps (not pledges signed, groups joined, but action) is Nestle taking to ensure its cocoa is from sources that do not use underage, indentured, trafficked or coerced labor? ANSWER HERE
15. Could Nestle currently put a Fair Trade or even a 100% Slave-Free label on its chocolate? ANSWER HERE
16. You told the bloggers that Stouffer's meals contain no preservatives and they tweeted about it. I assume they misheard you, since most of the Stouffer's meals seem to have a sodium content of between 25% and 40% of the daily recommended allowance for an adult in one serving. If my 2.5 year old were to have one serving of your Family Vegetable Lasagna, she would be getting 100% of her recommended daily sodium intake from that one piece of lasagna. Salt/sodium is a well-known preservative. Please explain (a) why you would characterize Stouffer's as preservative free and (b) why you feel it is appropriate to market foods with dangerously high sodium levels to families. ANSWER HERE.
17. Moving forward, what steps do you plan to take to use social media and engagement with bloggers to get input into corporate policies and practices? Or are you looking to social media simply as a cost effective marketing tool? ANSWER HERE
Please note that there are many other questions that I would ask, if they hadn't already been asked and answered. This doesn't mean I am satisfied with the answers that have been given. It just means that I don't feel the need to have the same lines quoted back to me that I have already seen. Instead, I am trying to get answers to some questions that I haven't seen the company address explicitly before (doesn't mean that it hasn't, just that I haven't seen the answers).
As I mentioned above, I will post the answers to these questions on this blog when I receive them.
As one of the main instigators of the protest against this event, Nestle indicated willingness to speak to me on the phone. In the interest of transparency (on both sides) and to eliminate any risk of "he said, she said" confusion, I decided that I would prefer to send my questions to Nestle in writing. Nestle indicated that questions could be sent via email to nestlefamilyinfo@casupport.com.
Here are my questions, which I am also submitting via e-mail. I will post the responses on my blog when/if I receive them.
Questions for Nestle
1. When meeting with bloggers, you characterized your 1-800-4Gerber line as a breastfeeding support line. Is that number just for breastfeeding support? If not, what is the scope of that phone line? ANSWER HERE
2. What are the qualifications of the staff that work on your 1-800-4Gerber help line? What percentage of them are International Board Certified Lactation Consultants? ANSWER HERE
3. Do you have any statistics on your 1-800-4Gerber help line? (e.g. how many calls? nature of questions asked? recommendations given?) ANSWER HERE
4. You say that you comply with the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes in all countries that have adopted the code. Canada is a signatory to the Code and the Canadian government actively encourages companies to comply with it. However, despite Canada being a signatory to the Code, you do not comply with the code in Canada. When you say "adopted" is it fair to assume then that you mean "legislated" and that you will not comply with a developed country's will unless it puts regulations in place to force you to? ANSWER HERE
5. You mention that "The WHO Code will only truly succeed if governments enforce it and monitor its compliance". When a country is considering changing its legislation to include provisions contained in the WHO Code does Nestle lobby against those changes through formal or informal consultation processes? ANSWER HERE
6. You say that you do not market formula in developing countries. and you also say that you have unilaterally applied the WHO Code in all developing countries and regions. Please:
- Provide a list of developing countries where you sell infant formula (i.e. the countries where you do sell, but do not market your formula)
- Provide a definition of "marketing". Does your definition of "marketing" align with the definition in the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. Or is this description of the variances between the WHO Code and your implementation of it accurate? If this description is inaccurate, please explain how it is inaccurate. ANSWER HERE.
7. Does any Nestle formula packaging in any nation make claims that the formula offers protection or protects the baby against diarrhea or any other ailment? ANSWER HERE
8. You maintain that "Nestle does not provide mothers in the developing world with free samples of your infant formula products - in fact Nestle has no contact at all with mothers with regards to these". Are samples provided to doctors? Is information about the "benefits" of your formula provided to doctors or other health professionals? ANSWER HERE
9. You indicate that you have regular audits on a worldwide basis of your marketing practices relating to infant formula. Do you have any public audit reports and/or statistics that you can share? How do your internal reports compare, for example, with the reports of IBFAN? ANSWER HERE
10. Your Nestle Instructions for Implementation of the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes includes a Complaint Form in Annex 3. How many complaint forms are received annually? Do you have any statistics or reports on the nature and geographic location of the violations reported? ANSWER HERE
11. You indicate that "Nestle complementary foods are not marketed or presented as breast-milk substitutes" and that you support the May 2001 WHA Resolution that changed the recommended duration of exclusive breastfeeding from 4-6 months to 6 months. Given your support in this regard does this mean that you do not market any food/drink products at all for the use by infants under 6 months of age in any country and that none of your labels for cereal or baby food indicates that it can be used starting at 4 months? ANSWER HERE
12. In discussions with the bloggers, your CEO mentioned that children died in the 1970s as a result of the misuse (wrong quantity, mixed with dirty water) of formula samples. Do you believe that deaths from the misuse of formula samples ended in the 1970s? ANSWER HERE
13. Why did your CEO tell bloggers at the Nestle Family event that the boycott ended in 1986? The boycott in fact ended in 1984, but was reinstated in 1988 because Nestle did not live up to the promises it made. The boycott is is still active today. Please explain why you would attempt to mislead the bloggers about the status of the boycott. ANSWER HERE
14. What concrete steps (not pledges signed, groups joined, but action) is Nestle taking to ensure its cocoa is from sources that do not use underage, indentured, trafficked or coerced labor? ANSWER HERE
15. Could Nestle currently put a Fair Trade or even a 100% Slave-Free label on its chocolate? ANSWER HERE
16. You told the bloggers that Stouffer's meals contain no preservatives and they tweeted about it. I assume they misheard you, since most of the Stouffer's meals seem to have a sodium content of between 25% and 40% of the daily recommended allowance for an adult in one serving. If my 2.5 year old were to have one serving of your Family Vegetable Lasagna, she would be getting 100% of her recommended daily sodium intake from that one piece of lasagna. Salt/sodium is a well-known preservative. Please explain (a) why you would characterize Stouffer's as preservative free and (b) why you feel it is appropriate to market foods with dangerously high sodium levels to families. ANSWER HERE.
17. Moving forward, what steps do you plan to take to use social media and engagement with bloggers to get input into corporate policies and practices? Or are you looking to social media simply as a cost effective marketing tool? ANSWER HERE
Please note that there are many other questions that I would ask, if they hadn't already been asked and answered. This doesn't mean I am satisfied with the answers that have been given. It just means that I don't feel the need to have the same lines quoted back to me that I have already seen. Instead, I am trying to get answers to some questions that I haven't seen the company address explicitly before (doesn't mean that it hasn't, just that I haven't seen the answers).
As I mentioned above, I will post the answers to these questions on this blog when I receive them.
1. What are the qualifications of the staff
that work on your breastfeeding help line?
What percentage of them are International
Board Certified Lactation Consultants?
2. Do you have any statistics on your
breastfeeding help line? (e.g. how many
calls? nature of questions asked?
recommendations given?)
3. When you say that you comply with the
International Code of Marketing of
Breast-Milk Substitutes in all countries
that have adopted the code, how do you
defined adopted? For example, Canada is a
signatory to the Code, but has not made it
law. Instead, they encourage companies to
comply with it. However, despite Canada
being a signatory, you do not comply with
the code in Canada.
4. You say that you do not market formula in
developing countries. Please:
(a) Provide a list of developing countries
where you do sell (but do not market) infant
formula
(b) Provide a definition of "marketing".
Does your definition of "marketing" align
with the definition in the International
Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk
Substitutes. If not, why not?
(c) Do you market any other food/drink
products in developing countries for use by
infants under 6 months of age?
that work on your breastfeeding help line?
What percentage of them are International
Board Certified Lactation Consultants?
2. Do you have any statistics on your
breastfeeding help line? (e.g. how many
calls? nature of questions asked?
recommendations given?)
3. When you say that you comply with the
International Code of Marketing of
Breast-Milk Substitutes in all countries
that have adopted the code, how do you
defined adopted? For example, Canada is a
signatory to the Code, but has not made it
law. Instead, they encourage companies to
comply with it. However, despite Canada
being a signatory, you do not comply with
the code in Canada.
4. You say that you do not market formula in
developing countries. Please:
(a) Provide a list of developing countries
where you do sell (but do not market) infant
formula
(b) Provide a definition of "marketing".
Does your definition of "marketing" align
with the definition in the International
Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk
Substitutes. If not, why not?
(c) Do you market any other food/drink
products in developing countries for use by
infants under 6 months of age?
Reader Comments (68)
[...] in the New Internationalist does a great job summing up Nestle’s approach. You’ve seen in my other posts on this issue that Nestle claims it is not violating the WHO Code by either applying its own [...]
[...] This answer is going to be short, since I’ve addressed most of the issues related to this answer in my other answers. [...]
Two more answers posted here:
http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/11/28/nestle-answers-lobbying-for-weak-laws-nestle-says-no-evidence-says-yes/
http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/11/28/nestle-answers-the-international-code-of-marketing-of-breast-milk-substitutes-and-the-developing-world/
Only one left to answer...
[...] Follow Up Questions For Nestle [...]
For the benefit of anyone who may be subscribing to comments on this post, but not to my RSS feed, I posted yesterday about a blogger who saw Nestle formula advertising first hand in Ethiopia on a trip she just returned from. She also spoke to women who mentioned getting Nestle formula samples in hospitals. If you thought Nestle was telling the truth about following the WHO code in developing countries, please read this. I hope it will change your mind.
http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/12/08/nestle-formula-advertising-in-ethiopia-how-is-that-complying-with-the-code/
[...] in the US, boosting International Nestlé-Free Week, which Baby Milk Action promotes at that time. http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/10/03/follow-up-questions-for-nestle/ Nestlé’s PR disaster fuelled many blogs and entered the mainstream media with, for example, [...]
[...] in the US, boosting International Nestlé-Free Week, which Baby Milk Action promotes at that time. http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/10/03/follow-up-questions-for-nestle/ Nestlé’s PR disaster fuelled many blogs and entered the mainstream media with, for example, [...]
[...] in the US, boosting International Nestlé-Free Week, which Baby Milk Action promotes at that time. http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/10/03/follow-up-questions-for-nestle/ Nestlé’s PR disaster fuelled many blogs and entered the mainstream media with, for example, [...]
[...] The more Nestle sticks its head in the sand, continues with unethical business practices, and uses double speak instead of making actual changes, the louder we will get and the more Nestle will be treading water and eventually sinking like the [...]
[...] the Nestle executive told them at the Nestle Family event or anything them claim elsewhere, despite my analysis of the answers I received from Nestle, despite the ongoing work of Baby Milk Action’s Boycott Nestle Blog to expose Nestle’s [...]
[...] by those words to this day. Both the words about how ineffective dialogue is with Nestle, which I proved by asking Nestle 18 questions and then posting their answers full of lies and doublespeak on ..., as well as the words about what actions I would have liked the Nestle Family bloggers to take. As [...]
[...] may make informed choices on whether or not they want to attend the conference, learn more about Nestle’s unethical business and marketing practices, join the Nestle boycott, read about the infamous #Nestlefamily Twitter-storm of 2009, [...]
[...] and the most comprehensive on-line coverage of that incident can be found at PhD in Parenting here and at follow-up posts on that [...]
[...] Family Bloggers. Invited on an all expenses paid trip to Nestle’s USA headquarters only to be fed a bunch of doublespeak by company executives while receiving flack from anti-Nestle activists on twitter and across the [...]
[...] is one of a series of posts that features Nestle’s answers to my questions that came out of the Nestle Family event. To access the other questions and answers, go to [...]
I have been an ardent supporter of the boycott for years now, my grown children also know of it and go out of their way to buy non Nesle products.
I have been an ardent supporter of the boycott for years now, my grown children also know of it and go out of their way to buy non Nestle products.
Thanks for sharing, I like nestle.