Letter on breastmilk substitute marketing, by Gay Palmer.

Dear ENN

André Briend has made an error in his valuable article on elimination of deficiency disease epidemics (FE 21 March 2004). He refers to suspicion of the food industry as part of nutritionists' professional culture and then speculates that this 'may stem from previous dishonest attempts to promote breastmilk substitutes by some well known companies.' Regrettably there is no 'previous' about these practices. Current monitoring of all the breastmilk substitute (bms) manufacturers and retailers reveal sustained unethical promotional practices which violate both the international and national codes. Both emergency situations and the high prevalence of HIV can be exploited for promotional tactics rather than ethical provision.

Gabrielle Palmer
Cambridge