Labeling issues
At the Ottawa meeting important labeling criteria were developed for infant formulas and complementary foods. The International Code of Marketing requires that the labeling of infant formulas and other foods for infants and young children that come under the scope of the International Code may not include images or text that idealize the use of these products or statements of equivalence between breastfeeding and artificial feeding.
These prohibitions include the use of health and nutrient function claims which can be used to imply that the product is as good as, if not better than, breastmilk. Needless to say, such claims are false and always misleading because no requirements exist for the hazards of artificial feeding to appear on the label. INFACT and its members have been lobbying Health Canada for package labeling that does not mislead and will be in conformity with the International Code.
