Influencers should be banned from promoting baby formula, WHO says

Influencers should be banned from promoting baby formula 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 milk or to buy more expensive products than necessary.

Celebrities such as Loose Women panelist Stacey Solomon and Love Island contestant Olivia Bowen have been used to promote formula milk and share their ideas about breastfeeding, which health experts say risk doing “more harm than good”. 

However, global stars such as Beyoncé and Rihanna have used their platform to promote breastfeeding, with the latter launching a “maternity bra” range for new mothers.

Breastfed babies ‘more likely to be healthier’

The WHO recommends that children are exclusively breastfed for the first six months and can continue to be breastfed alongside food for up to two years. 

It says research shows breastfed babies are more likely to be protected from childhood illnesses and less likely to become overweight as adults.

In the UK, four out of five babies are breastfed at birth but just a quarter are exclusively breastfed at six weeks old. Only one in 100 babies are exclusively breastfed at six months.

Experts, including the Royal College of Midwives, say parents’ feeding choices “must be respected” but they should be able to make independent, informed decisions.

The WHO’s research has found marketing messages target and undermine mothers who want to breastfeed and influence the feeding choices of new parents.

In the latest update to its marketing guidance, the WHO said: “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.”

New guidelines propose ban 

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 other branded material on social media, such as online “baby clubs” or parent advice lines.

In the UK, formula manufacturer Cow & Gate has previously featured celebrities such as Solomon and 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.

Various celebrities have come out in support of breastfeeding in recent years, including Katherine Ryan, who hit back at critics earlier this year for drinking alcohol while breastfeeding.

“It’s important to open up a conversation about breastfeeding and say that your breast milk is not made from the contents of your stomach,” she said.

“Maybe if another mum hears me say that... It might make a new mum open to breastfeeding for six months longer or feel less shame herself.”

After giving birth, Beyoncé breastfed her daughter Blue for 10 weeks. “I encourage women to do it; it’s just so good for the baby and good for myself,” she said.

Numerous British parenting and lifestyle influencer accounts have been seen to promote follow-on formula milk for brands including formula products to their thousands of social media followers. 

Crackdown on influencer marketing welcomed

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.

Guidance is not legally binding

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.

‘Some parents cannot breastfeed’

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

“While breast milk 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.”