Refelctions from Tripoli: A moment of idealism

I was talking with my prof the other when we were in Tripoli and she mentioned the Nestle case that was brought up a while ago and why she doesn't use Nestle products or moreover how that the whole university she works at doesn't support Nestle products.

The whole story goes as follows; Nestle decided to support the Brazilian "Zero Hunger" Program. It did so by supplying mothers of newly-borns with powdered formula and promoting it as infant formula (which u can guess that it's not). So being the least expensive and under extensive marketing pressure, mothers living in impoverished setting tend to rely on these formulas over their own breast milk underpinning their own ability to produce nutrient-rich milk.

She also stated some of the problems with switching to formula:

• Formula must normally be mixed with water, which is often contaminated in poor countries, leading to disease in vulnerable infants. UNICEF estimates that a non-breastfed child living in disease-ridden and unhygienic conditions is between six and 25 times more likely to die of diarrhea and four times more likely to die of pneumonia than a breastfed child.
• Many poor mothers use less formula powder than is necessary, in order to make a container of formula last longer. As a result, some infants receive inadequate nutrition from weak solutions of formula.
• Breast milk has many natural benefits lacking from formula; supply of antibodies and immune system complements for the child, supply of nutrients that are essential for neuronal (brain and nerve) development, frequent and exclusive breastfeeding can also delay the return of fertility, which can help women in developing countries to space their births,...
  source

Resources:

1. Nestle's Deadly PR Scam in Brazil
2. Promotion of Nido as Infant Formula

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