By Don Asoka Wijewardena
The Health Ministry’s Food Control Unit on Wednesday warned all manufacturers and distributors of designated products not to offer for sale or sell such products if the container label does not state the correct contents of the product. A statement on the superiority of breast feeding and its nutritional qualities and protection against any diseases should appear prominently on the label or container of such products, the unit said.
Consultant Community Physician of the Family Health Bureau Dr. S. Godakandage told a media conference, on the ‘Importance of Breast Feeding’, at Waters Edge on December 7 that industrially prepared powdered milk should not be substituted for maternal milk except on sound medical advice. Labels of the powdered milk products should not use the terms "breast milk substitute humanized, and maternalised or similar terms. The labels should also include a feeding chart stating the preparation instructions that left overs of the designated product, after preparation, should be discarded. If labels create an incorrect impression that the product is a substitute for breast milk and increases stability, it would be a punishable offence in accordance with the Sri Lanka Code for the Promotion, Protection and Support of Breast Feeding and Marketing of Designated products.
Dr. Godakandage said that parents had to be extra-careful in selecting infant food items. No person could advertise or promote any complementary food as being appropriate for any infant under the age of six months.
He said complementary food could be advertised only with the approval of the Health Ministry Monitoring Committee. The facilities at health care system should not be used for the purpose of promoting designated products or complementary food.
She pointed out that in emergency situations designated products could be donated under the following conditions such as infants who had lost their mothers. The supply should not be used as a sales inducement. A request for supplementation should be made on medical advice.
President of Sri Lanka College of Pediatricians Dr. Asvini Fernando said that present-day mothers were rather reluctant to breast feed their infants because they were preoccupied with their physiques. Medical experts had found that breast feeding would lower the risk of developing breast cancer and non-communicable diseases. Breast feeding infants were immune to several diseases.
She added that infants who were not being breast fed would be liable to contact asthma, eczema, allergies and obesity. Several commercial trade establishments, which were only interested in profit maximization were promoting powdered milk. It was a threat to the society. Mother’s milk contained all the essential nutrients, but no milk powder had those qualities.
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