79th WHA Individual Statements
Two new threats to infant health are both forms of disaster capitalism.
Firstly, contamination of formula – a child’s first UPF - has led to legal actions on infant deaths and illness, delays, lack of transparency and fraud. A single contaminated ingredient was distributed to 130 countries, leading to unprecedented recalls. Poor surveillance, poor recall and poor crisis management have eroded public trust in a food system, dependent on a handful of corporations.
Secondly, Codex Alimentarius may soon adopt Guidance allowing weaker labelling of food products in emergency situations. This opens the door to commercial exploitation, double standards and unethical dumping of products in the global south.
We call on Member States to send health delegates to Codex and ensure that products for babies are excluded from this bad proposal.