INFANT FOODS ACT TO
BE AMENDED TO PROMOTE BREASTFEEDING AND CHECK DELETERIOUS ADVERTISEMENTS
The Government is
considering amendment of the Infant Milk Substitutes, feeding
bottles and infant foods Regulation Act 1992, primarily to effectively
check advertising and promotion of milk substitutes and related
items, which discourage breastfeeding.
The proposed
amendment seeks to extend the scope of the Act and prohibit all
forms of advertising and promotion - light, sound, smoke or gas
or by means of electronic transmission by audio or visual transmission
- in relation to infant milk substitutes, feeding bottles and
infant foods. Any unwanted promotion using new modes of advertising
and publicity will thus be brought under the ambit of the Act.
Some gaps in the Act that are susceptible to misuse, thereby discouraging
breastfeeding, are also sought to be covered.
Research findings
and recommendations of international agencies strongly favour
exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life of the
infant and continued breastfeeding together with complementary
foods for the first two years. Effective promotion of breastfeeding
was becoming difficult without sufficient provisions in the present
Act. Therefore, a Task Force comprising representatives from various
Ministries and voluntary agencies was constituted. The amendments
to the existing Act are based on the recommendations of the Task
Force and the National Commission for Women.
