Government failed to disclose information about risks of formula-feeding because of political, economic reasons

Oct 2 2007

The decision to halt an HHS public service campaign that promoted breast-feeding "seems to be a matter of politics and economics," Wendy Orent, author of the book "Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World's Most Dangerous Disease," writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece (Orent, Los Angeles Times, 9/30).

The campaign, which aired advertisements promoting breast-feeding from 2003 to 2005, was toned down after formula industry representatives hired lobbyists to influence the department. One of the ads created for the campaign featured a nipple-tipped insulin bottle and said, "Babies who aren't breast-fed are 40% more likely to suffer Type 1 diabetes." Some of the proposed ads also featured photos of asthma inhalers topped with rubber nipples. Instead, the campaign ran ads that showed images of dandelions and cherry-topped ice cream scoops to highlight how breast-feeding could help prevent respiratory conditions and obesity.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating whether former Surgeon General Richard Carmona was barred from participating in the breast-feeding advocacy project and if people working on the campaign were overruled by superiors (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/31).

According to Orent, formula industry lobbyists "pressured" the department to "weaken" the campaign, "even though the science supported" the campaign's message. Orent adds that the "health of millions of infants" now is "at risk because mothers don't have the scientific knowledge the ads would have conveyed to make an informed choice between breast- or formula-feeding."

"Formula cannot "compete, nutritionally or immunologically, with something produced by eons of natural selection and tailored to the precise needs of human infants and their mothers," Orent writes. She adds that formula companies "deftly reframed the debate" on breast- or formula-feeding to be about "choice." Women "should feel angry" that they were not told, "in some clear, graphic and unmistakable way, what the health risks of formula-feeding are," Orent writes, concluding that the "terrible thing" is that the government "for political and economic reasons chose -- and still chooses -- to keep that knowledge to itself" (Los Angeles Times, 9/30).