Influencers should be BANNED from promoting formula milk on social media, WHO says

Influencers should be banned from promoting formula milk on social media, the World Health Organisation has said.

Experts said manufacturers were increasingly using ‘exploitative marketing’ online to encourage parents to switch to formula or to buy more expensive products than necessary.

It said the latest update to its marketing guidance, published this month, was essential to help keep regulation in line with fast-moving developments in the digital world.

‘Digital environments are fast becoming the predominant source of exposure to promotion of breast-milk substitutes globally, digital marketing amplifies the reach and power of advertising and… exposure to digital marketing increases the purchase and use of breast-milk substitutes,’ the WHO said.

The new guidelines propose a ban on influencers directly promoting formula products but also says they should not be paid by formula companies to promote branded content, such as online ‘baby clubs’ or parent advice lines, on social media.

In the UK, formula manufacturer Cow & Gate has previously featured celebrities like Loose Women panellist Stacey Solomon and Love Island contestant Olivia Bowen in videos promoting its C&G Baby Club on Facebook and Instagram.

Both celebrity mothers have also independently posted about their experiences of breastfeeding.

And numerous smaller lifestyle and parenting influencers have been paid to directly plug follow-on formula products (designed for babies older than 6 months) by brands like Aptamil and Kendamil to their thousands of social media followers.

Amy Brown, professor of child public health at Swansea University, welcomed the proposed crackdown on influencer marketing.

‘Although there may be exceptions, influencers do not tend to be experts in infant feeding and public health,’ she said.

‘They are sharing their opinions… [which] are not necessarily based on evidence or good information for others, and they could unintentionally do more harm than good.

‘These guidelines will help prevent that.’

She added: ‘So much of the information we get now is through social media and digital marketing – the [formula] industry has taken advantage of that to find loopholes in regulation to reach parents.

‘Parents deserve information and support that should be evidence-based and accurate.’

Speaking at the Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative Conference in Harrogate this week, Shereen Fisher director of the Baby Friendly Initiative, said: ‘This is about protecting families from aggressive marketing techniques.

‘Restricting marketing does not mean that the products cannot be sold, or that factual scientific information about them cannot be made available.

‘Nor does it restrict parents’ choice.

‘It simply aims to make sure that their choices are made based on full and impartial information rather than misleading, inaccurate or biased marketing claims.’

Publishing new guidance on ‘regulatory measures aimed at restricting digital marketing of breast-milk substitutes’, the WHO said regulation was needed to ‘prohibit the use of digital marketing tools’ including ‘advertising on social media platforms’ and ‘influencer marketing’, adding that healthcare professionals should be banned from being paid to promote formula online.

It also called for an end to formula companies creating social media ‘baby clubs’ – like the C&G Baby Club – or offering parenting advice, and a ban on companies using digital marketing to ‘establish relationships’ with parents.

Manufacturers should also be prevented from ‘encouraging or enabling consumers to share, react or comment on marketing content’, it added.

Although an international WHO Code on marketing already prohibited brands from directly targeting new parents, it does not expressly include all forms of digital marketing.

The guidance is not legally binding but individual countries which are WHO member states – including the UK – are expected to ultimately update their laws to align with WHO recommendations.

But the update comes as it was revealed only half of infant and follow-on formula products sold in Britain currently comply with UK laws on labelling.

Researchers, led by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, analysed 57 product labels and found just 50 per cent fully adhered to UK law.

The study, presented at the conference, found labels carried claims ‘idealising formula milk, or nutrition and health claims’ – which are not permitted.

Researchers said they also contained promotional content, like telephone advice lines for new parents, which were an example of firms ‘seeking to build relationship[s] with mothers/carers’.

They said the labels ‘violated’ many of the laws and regulations designed to protect parents from ‘exploitative’ marketing, and showed ‘how manufacturers use product labels as marketing tools to increase sales’.

‘The UK law should be better enforced and strengthened in line with the [WHO] Code to protect breastfeeding and safe and appropriate formula feeding,’ the authors added.

A spokesperson for Danone, which manufactures Aptamil and Cow & Gate, said: ‘How to feed your child is an important decision for any parent.

‘While breastmilk offers babies the best nutritional start in life, some parents cannot breastfeed.

‘Many also make the choice to partially or fully feed their children with baby formula.

‘Formula is a quality, legitimate option that should be respected and parents should not be made to feel judged for formula feeding their little one.

‘When it comes to feeding, parents turn to healthcare professionals, family and friends, as well as online sources.

‘Seeking to prohibit access to information about baby formula hinders parents in making an informed choice and stigmatises a legitimate feeding option.

‘Infant formula is the only recognised alternative to breastmilk and is highly regulated to ensure appropriate communication, labelling and marketing of products; we adhere strictly to these UK regulations.’